Israeli critics of the Iran deal should be wary of alienating President Donald Trump, particularly given their country’s dependency on U.S. military aid, Vice President JD Vance told reporters on Thursday.
“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 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.”
Vance’s words heightened the growing rift between the two staunch allies over the war with Iran they jointly launched on Feb. 28, with the U.S. fearing that a protracted campaign would lead to a worse outcome and Israel certain that a premature end to the war posed an existential threat.
The vice president spoke the morning after Trump signed a paper copy of the 14-point Memorandum of Understanding with Iran at the Palace of Versailles in France, following his signing of a digital version on Sunday.
Responding to criticism in Israel of Trump’s actions on Iran, Vance retorted, “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.”
The deal halts hostilities between Iran and the United States and opens the Straits of Hormuz, extending by 60 days the shaky ceasefire that has been in place since April 8 to allow for negotiations on a permanent agreement. It is based on a carrot-and-stick approach in which Iran would receive billions of dollars at the end of the process if Tehran pledged to never procure or produce nuclear weapons.
The memorandum, however, is short on details about compliance and provides for immediate economic relief for the Islamic Republic through the lifting of waivers on the sale of oil and the lifting of sanctions against Iran. It also demands an end to the ongoing war in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian proxy group Hezbollah.
Israel fears the terms of the deal only empower the Islamic Republic, shoring it up from collapse and providing it with funds to develop nuclear weapons and provide military support to its proxy groups, while at the same time preventing Israel from defending itself against Hezbollah. Trump’s comments on Wednesday that Iran would be able to retain “some” ballistic missiles only further added to Israeli unease.
Vance defended Trump’s stance on ballistic missiles, saying that the country’s stockpile and its launchers had been heavily depleted during the war and adding that Iran had a right to conventional weapons. “You can’t tell a country, whether Israel or Iran, they’re not allowed to have any self-defense,” he explained.
“But we do expect that as part of the final deal, they are not gonna be able to build the kind of missiles that can broadly threaten the entire world,” Vance said, as he said that Iran would only receive financial and other benefits under the deal if it agreed to its terms, including halting its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
In an interview with The New York Times published on Thursday, Vance said he found the “weird panic” and “freak out” in Israel “strange.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refrained from directly attacking the deal, focusing instead on statements pledging that Israel retains its right to self-defense, but far-right members of his coalition, such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have warned of its dangers.
“Bibi, to his credit, has not gone down that path,” Vance told reporters in the White House. He underscored Israeli dependency on American military aid in a direct message rebuking the ministers.
“Over the last three months, two-thirds of the defensive weapons that have protected your homeland have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars,” he stated.
Reporting the stories that define our era. When history unfolds in real-time, the Jewish world turns to JR. Your support ensures we can document the complexities of war and the resilience of Jewish communities with integrity.
