Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democrat who defected to the Republican Party, was selected to be be President-elect Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, a pick that could be cause for significant alarm among Republican hawks and could raise concerns for the pro-Israel community.

Gabbard, a military veteran, has perhaps become most notorious for meeting with, and defending, Syrian President Bashar Al Assad in 2017, and defending his attacks on Syrian civilians.

The former legislator has criticized the Biden administration as insufficiently supportive of Israel since Oct. 7, has been vocal against Islamic terrorism and has expressed support for the Jewish state, including at a speech at a Christians United for Israel conference during her time in Washington, but her record in the House tells a mixed story. 

Gabbard voted against a House resolution condemning the December 2016 United Nations Security Council Resolution opposing Israeli settlements. She said that she shared the concerns of the Obama administration — which declined to veto the resolution — about settlement activity. She separately condemned Israel for firing live ammunition at rioters at the Gaza fence in 2018.

In 2019, Gabbard refused to condemn Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) for antisemitic comments about U.S. support for Israel and voted for a resolution sponsored by Omar that aimed to defend the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. But Gabbard has also expressed personal opposition to the BDS movement and voted for anti-BDS legislation.

Gabbard voted against the Iran nuclear deal, said the U.S. should roll back sanctions and criticized the first Trump administration for killing Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Gen. Qasserm Soleimani, describing the strike as an unconstitutional act of war. She introduced legislation seeking to limit presidential war authorities.

Gabbard also opposed arms sales to Saudi Arabia in the House and described Trump as “Saudi Arabia’s bitch” for refusing to penalize the country for the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Prior to her political evolution, Gabbard was a surrogate for the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the Senate’s most vocal critic of Israel.

Gabbard has also been sympathetic to Russian President Vladimir Putin, going as far as to say that U.S. leaders had instigated Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine while campaigning for Trump and defending Russia’s claimed rationale for the invasion.

Gabbard said in a statement on Veterans Day, “The best way for us to honor our veterans, not just on #VeteransDay, but every day, is to make sure that our men and women in uniform are only sent into harms’ way as a last resort when all diplomatic measures have been exhausted, and actually take care of them and their families, if and when they return home.

Pro-Israel figures are divided about the nomination.

“Tulsi is a few marbles short of a full set but we are hopeful the marbles she has are blue and white in support of Israel,” an official at a pro-Israel group told Jewish Insider.

Foundation for the Defense of Democracies CEO Mark Dubowitz suggested that Gabbard would be part of a “game-changing” anti-Iran team in the administration and on Capitol Hill, in collaboration with Israel.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), a moderate Democrat who had praised some of Trump’s other nominees, said that putting Gabbard in charge of the intelligence community “is incredibly reckless.”

“Putting someone with known sympathies for foreign adversaries is not putting America’s interests first – it’s putting our security at risk,” he said.