Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly responded to Vice President JD Vance's claim that the US is Israel's only ally, saying Israel has 'additional friends' including India, a country of 1.4 billion people, according to reports.
In a further elaboration released Sunday evening at 18:44 Jerusalem, Prime Minister Netanyahu specified India as an additional friend beyond the United States, directly countering Vice President J.D. Vance's claim that America is Israel's only ally. This latest dispatch — citing India, a country of 1.4 billion people, as having 'tremendous support' for Israel — builds on a thread The Zioneer has tracked throughout the night.
Earlier Sunday at 18:44 Jerusalem, The Zioneer first reported Netanyahu's initial response to Vance, in which the Prime Minister asserted that Israel has 'many, many friends' during a Fox News interview. Subsequent versions at the same timestamp noted that Netanyahu named India as a key friend with 'enormous' support, and that he further claimed many world leaders personally call him to express respect for Israel despite domestic pressures in their countries. This new report sharpens Netanyahu's counter: he now explicitly lists India as an additional friend beyond the US, without repeating the claim about other world leaders.
The exchange is the latest in a escalating public back-and-forth between Israeli officials and the Trump administration. As The Zioneer reported on Thursday June 18 (19:27 and 21:43 Jerusalem), Vice President Vance asserted that 'the only world leader sympathetic to Israel now is Trump' and warned Israeli officials not to attack the US. Earlier that evening (19:41 Jerusalem), Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that the US has no other ally in the Middle East like Israel. President Trump himself, as reported on Wednesday June 17 (19:53 Jerusalem), described the US as 'the big partner' and Israel as 'the very small partner.' This sequence underscores a period of unusual public friction between the allies.
It remains unclear whether Netanyahu's latest remarks — delivered in a recorded or live setting — are a direct on-camera response or a statement relayed by his office. The Prime Minister's characterization of India's support as 'tremendous' is presented as his own assessment, without independent confirmation from Indian officials. The broader question of how other world leaders view Israel, and whether they have indeed called Netanyahu personally, has not been independently verified.
5 developments
- StrongVance escalates: 'Only world leader sympathetic to Israel now is Trump'
- DevelopingVance pushes back on Netanyahu frustrations over US-Iran deal
- StrongUS VP Vance: 'I wouldn't attack your last remaining strong ally' — Israeli pundit replies
- StrongUS VP Vance says Netanyahu 'got something wrong,' signals daylight in Washington
Source and signal
- Internal intake