Few Washington insiders seemed prepared last week to accept the claim that George Tenet was resigning from his post as CIA director for “personal reasons.”

Tenet and his agency have been under fire in recent months from critics who say the CIA supplied false intelligence used by the Bush administration to justify last year’s invasion of Iraq. According to critics, the CIA incorrectly suggested that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. The agency has also come under scrutiny from lawmakers who say it failed to do enough to stop the attacks of September 11, 2001.

But since last week’s announcement, Jewish communal leaders and Israeli officials, as well as former U.S. diplomats, have been praising Tenet’s tenure at the CIA and the unprecedented role the agency played in the pursuit of Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“There was no way I could be credible on issues of security,” said Edward Walker, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Israel at the time. “We needed a guy like George to bring the parties around to the point that they could even talk to each other.”

Tenet also has been credited with improving ties between American and Israeli intelligence services.

“We see him as a good and true friend of Israel,” said Daniel Ayalon, Israel’s ambassador to the United States.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount