Vice President JD Vance used a Thursday White House press briefing to press Israel to stop attacking a U.S.-Iran peace deal, arguing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet are targeting President Trump instead of aligning with the “only powerful all
For JD Vance, the dispute over a U.S.-Iran peace deal is already spilling into personal politics.
Speaking during a White House press briefing on Thursday, the vice president pointed directly to how members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet have reacted to the agreement—saying they have attacked the deal and, in some cases, attacked President Trump “very personally.”
“What I will say, and this does bother me, is you have seen people within [Netanyahu’s] Cabinet who have come out and attacked the deal, and in some ways, very personally attacked the president of the United States,” Vance said.
The agreement at the center of Vance’s remarks would give Iran $300 billion and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. a combination that Israel’s supporters have argued undermines its security goals. Vance’s tone suggested the White House views Israel’s reaction as both counterproductive and, at this stage, needlessly provocative.
In reporting tied to the deal. Netanyahu was described as fuming. reportedly stunned by the framework that “does little to accomplish Israel’s war aims.” Yaakov Amidror. a former national security adviser to Netanyahu. later characterized the arrangement as follows: “It’s a bad agreement in which the Americans are paying with cash. and got. at the maximum. a letter of intent.”.
Vance did not engage those critiques on their own terms. Instead, he focused on what he framed as Israel’s choices—especially the choice to confront the U.S. while the U.S. is still attempting to manage Iran through negotiations.
“The agreement is the one that Trump is doing,” Vance said in effect through his remarks, going further when he argued Trump stands alone.
“Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” Vance said, adding, “If I was in the Cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.”
He also tied Israel’s leverage to American support, reminding Israel that “two-thirds of its defensive weapons were built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars.”
Vance’s warning didn’t stop at tone. He also accused Israel of interfering with the pace of talks between the U.S. and Iran.
He described a pattern in which negotiations appear close to a breakthrough and then collapse after violence erupts in Lebanon—saying. “We seem to be right on the cusp of a major breakthrough in the agreement. and then all of a sudden there’s a major explosion that goes off in a major population center in Beirut. and a lot of people who have nothing to do with Hezbollah lose their lives. and that’s not acceptable.”.
At another point in the briefing, Vance returned to President Trump’s frustration with Israel’s actions around Lebanon.
“Israel has a right to defend itself,” Vance said. “But fundamentally, the Israelis, just like everybody else, have to respect this peace process.”
JD Vance White House press briefing Israel Benjamin Netanyahu U.S.-Iran peace deal Strait of Hormuz Iran $300 billion Lebanon Beirut Hezbollah American weapons peace process