JD Vance tells Iran deal critics in Israel: Trump is your only ally left in the world | JD Vance
US vice president JD Vance has lashed out at Israelis who criticize the Iran deal, saying Donald Trump is Israel’s only remaining ally in the world, referring to the billions of dollars of defense aid the country receives from America.
Vance was defending the deal reached this week to end the war with Iran, which critics in the United States and Israel criticized for failing to stop Iran’s missile program and providing a clear path to dismantle its nuclear facilities and for constraining Israel in its war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
Asked at a White House news briefing about a report that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was outraged about the deal, Vance said he had not heard such comments from Netanyahu but criticized members of the Israeli leader’s cabinet who attacked the deal and attacked Trump personally.
“My message to them will be twofold. No 1: Donald J Trump is the only head of state in the entire world right now who sympathizes with the nation of Israel,” Vance told reporters.
“If I were in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not attack the only powerful ally I have left in the entire world.”
He also said he would remind cabinet members that two-thirds of the defensive weapons protecting Israel were “made by American hands and paid for with American taxes.”
The United States provides Israel with about $4 billion in military aid annually, but the two countries are negotiating a new aid agreement.
“Israel’s problem is not Donald J Trump, and anyone in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the US president needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation the country is in,” Vance said.
Trump has repeatedly criticized his longtime ally Israel, escalating tensions almost four months after the two countries partnered to attack Iran. The war has rattled markets and global oil supplies as Tehran responded by closing the critical strait of the Hormuz supply route.
Netanyahu’s office and the Israeli foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Reuters news agency.
But senior Israeli officials, speaking anonymously, said the deal’s terms were bad for Israel because they failed to address concerns about Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program, a view they say is shared among Israeli leaders. Trump sought to downplay Israeli concerns in his closing remarks to the G7 summit in France on Wednesday. Trump said Netanyahu could use a “softer touch” in the fight against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
In his first statement since the deal, Netanyahu said at a public event that he appreciated Israel’s relationship with the United States but that Israel would continue to occupy southern Lebanon to ensure the safety of citizens living near its northern border.
Israel on Thursday released a map showing an expanded zone of military control in southern Lebanon and said it would not rule out launching attacks beyond that, defying the terms of the US-Iran deal.
Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who plays a key role in Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, harshly condemned the US-Iran deal and insisted that Israeli troops remain in Lebanon.
Vance criticized Ben-Gvir and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich in a New York Times interview published earlier Thursday. “What is your exact proposal? You’re a country of 9 million people. You can’t just kill the way to solve every national security problem you face,” Vance said.
“I find this madness in Israel a little strange because I think it comes from insecurity, and I think America has earned the trust of that region, the trust of the world,” Vance said.
Ben-Gvir responded to Vance’s remarks about
In a post on social media following Vance’s statement on Thursday, Trump said he encouraged everyone in the Middle East to remain committed to allowing negotiations to begin. “We expect a complete ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, Hezbollah and Israel,” Trump said.
