US Vice President JD Vance, in an interview with the New York Times published Thursday, dismissed Israeli criticism of the emerging US-Iran agreement, saying he senses a 'strange panic' in the Israeli system driven by lack of trust. Vance challenged Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir directly: 'What exactly is your proposal? You can't simply kill your way out of every national security problem.' According to the interview, Vance argued the US has earned the region's trust and claimed claims of a bad deal are unsupported by the facts.
The interview — conducted by the New York Times and circulated via Israeli media channels Thursday afternoon — represents the sharpest on-record critique by a senior Trump administration official of the Israeli government's political opposition to the US-Iran framework. Vance directly challenged the two most prominent right-wing opponents of the deal in Prime Minister Netanyahu's cabinet, questioning the feasibility of their preferred approach.
The vice president's remarks follow an escalating public campaign by the administration to sell the agreement to a skeptical Israeli audience. As The Zioneer reported at 18:00 Thursday, Vance told the Times he finds the Israeli hysteria 'strange' and rooted in a lack of trust. Roughly an hour later, at 19:27, Vance escalated further in an article published by The Zioneer, warning Israeli ministers that 'attacks on Trump must stop' and that 'Israel was built from our money.'
The core of Vance's argument in the new interview is that critics present no workable alternative. The US-Iran deal itself was reported by Israeli media as having been signed between Washington and Tehran, though no official confirmation of a signed text was provided in the intake messages. The US Treasury separately announced new sanctions related to Hezbollah, according to a message at 19:44.
3 developments
- DevelopingVP Vance sharply rebukes Israeli ministers who oppose Iran deal: 'I wouldn't attack your last ally'
- StrongVP Vance promotes US-Iran agreement on Fox News, says deal benefits Israel
- DevelopingVP Vance defends emerging US-Iran deal as 'win-win' for America
- StrongVance accuses extremist Iranian media of distorting deal, Israeli outlets of amplifying it
Source and signal
- Internal intake