US Vice-President JD Vance has sharply criticised Israeli opponents of the Iran deal, declaring that Donald Trump is Israel's only ally left in the world. During a White House press briefing, Vance referenced the billions of dollars in defence aid that Israel receives from the United States as he defended the agreement reached this week to end the war with Iran.
Vance's Rebuke to Israeli Critics
Vance was responding to critics in both the US and Israel who have slammed the deal for failing to curb Iran's missile programme and for not providing a clear path to dismantling its nuclear facilities. The agreement also constrains Israel in its conflict with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
When asked about reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was furious over the agreement, Vance said he had not heard such comments directly from Netanyahu but criticised members of the Israeli leader's cabinet who have attacked both the deal and Trump personally.
“My message to them would be twofold. Number one: Donald J 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 told reporters. “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 added that he would also remind those cabinet members that two-thirds of the defensive weapons that have protected Israel “have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars”.
The US provides Israel with roughly $4 billion in military assistance annually, and the two countries are currently negotiating a new aid agreement.
“The problem for Israel is not Donald J Trump, and anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the president of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in,” Vance said.
Trump's Criticism of Israel
Trump has repeatedly criticised longtime ally Israel, spiking tensions nearly four months after the two countries partnered to attack Iran. The war has roiled markets and global oil supplies as Tehran responded by closing the critical Strait of Hormuz supply route.
Netanyahu's office and Israel's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. However, Israeli senior officials, speaking anonymously, have said the deal terms were bad for Israel because they failed to address concerns over Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programme, a view they say is shared across Israel's leadership.
Trump tried to play down Israel's concerns during closing remarks on Wednesday at the G7 summit in France. Netanyahu could use a “softer touch” in the fight against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, Trump said.
Netanyahu's Response
In his first comments since the deal, Netanyahu said at a public event that Israel appreciated its relationship with the US but would continue to occupy southern Lebanon to maintain security for citizens living near Israel's northern border. Israel published a map on Thursday showing an expanded military control zone in southern Lebanon and said it would not rule out carrying out attacks beyond it, challenging the terms of the US-Iran agreement.
Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, a linchpin in Netanyahu's governing coalition, has harshly rebuked the US-Iran deal and insisted Israeli troops would remain in Lebanon.
Vance criticised Ben-Gvir and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich in a New York Times interview released earlier on Thursday. “What is your exact proposal? You’re a country of 9 million people. You can’t just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have,” Vance said.
“I find this whole freakout in Israel a little bit odd because I think that it comes from a place of mistrust, and I think that America has earned the trust of that region, of the world,” Vance added.
Ben-Gvir responded to Vance’s remarks on X, saying: “This is the proposal ... To deal with the Nazis of the 21st century, just as the United States dealt with the Nazis of the 20th century.”
Trump, in a social media post after Vance’s remarks on Thursday, said he encouraged everyone in the Middle East to maintain their commitment to allowing negotiations to take place. “We expect a complete Ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Israel,” Trump wrote.
