Vance Slams Israeli Critics of Trump’s Deal With Iran - The Wall Street Journal.

[STEVEN ROBINSON]

Vance Slams Israeli Critics of Trump’s Deal With Iran

 

The sharp words from the vice president underscore the divisions between the two allies as an agreement to pause war moves forward

 

By Alexander Ward and Natalie Andrews/Wall Street Journal

 

June 18, 2026

 

WASHINGTON—Vice President JD Vance rebuked members of Israel’s government on Thursday for their criticism of President Trump’s agreement to pause the war with Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

 

“Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who’s sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” Vance said during a White House press briefing on Thursday. “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.” 

 

For days, far-right members in Israel’s government have criticized the U.S. deal to pause the war with Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Vance pushed back on what he deemed personal attacks on Trump amid that criticism, noting most of the weapons used to defend Israel from Iran were American-made. 

 

“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. 

 

Those remarks followed an earlier interview with the New York Times in which Vance, speaking of those same ministers, said Israel “can’t just kill your way out of solving every single national-security problem that you have.”

 

The vice president’s comments underscore the divisions that have opened up between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had urged Trump to keep the pressure on Iran, and Trump, who wanted a way out of an unpopular and costly war. American administrations and Israeli governments have long disagreed over Middle East policies but those arguments are generally kept behind closed doors, at least in public statements.

 

Israel has insisted on its right to defend itself across a number of fronts in the Middle East, from Gaza, where a 2½-year conflict is still simmering, to Lebanon, where an Israeli invasion has secured a swath of its northern neighbor’s land. Trump has criticized Israel for its continued actions in Lebanon, but Israeli officials say they need to neutralize the threat posed by Hezbollah, a Lebanese militia that the U.S. has designated as a terrorist group.

 

Netanyahu has publicly refrained from criticizing Trump’s deal with Iran. Privately, Israeli officials say it could give Tehran the money and time to rebuild its arsenal of missiles and drones, replenish its proxies in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq and ultimately tilt the balance of power against American and Israeli interests in the Middle East.

 

Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right firebrand who is Israel’s national-security minister, said in a social-media post that the U.S.-Iran deal doesn’t apply to Israel, even though the agreement specifically says the war in Lebanon will end.

 

“Israel is not subject to the United States, and we are an independent and sovereign nation!” he wrote, adding later that he was grateful to Trump, but “the State of Israel is not a banana republic.”

 

The vice president’s remarks came during a press briefing in which Vance continued to promote the memorandum of understanding signed Wednesday evening by both the U.S. and Iran. The agreement establishes a 60-day period in which Tehran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. lifts sanctions on its oil sales, providing the regime with much-needed revenue. Iran also committed not to seek a nuclear weapon—a statement it has made many times before—although how it would do so will be the subject of the negotiations with the U.S.

 

During that 60-day period, negotiations would continue over Iran’s nuclear program, and Trump has designated Vance to lead the next stage of negotiations. Vance said negotiators would meet soon, but he didn’t offer a specific date.

 

The U.S. military said Thursday that a blockade on Iranian ports had been lifted. Vance said Tehran hadn’t fired on commercial vessels for two consecutive days and allowed ships carrying 12.5 million barrels of oil to pass through the strait over the last 24 hours.

 

“As they dial up their good behavior, we can dial up the economic relief,” Vance said. “If they dial down their good behavior, we can turn it off.”

 

Trump in a social-media post on Thursday urged countries in the Middle East to let the next stage of negotiations proceed. “The United States is committed to PEACE, and we encourage everyone in the Middle East Region to maintain their commitment to allowing our negotiations to beautifully unfold,” he wrote. 

 

Trump has said he would be open to talks continuing after the 60-day time frame. Vance’s ultimate challenge as a lead negotiator for the U.S. is that any agreement must be approved by the president himself, who frequently changes his mind. Trump originally sought to dismantle Iran’s ballistic missile program, but said on Wednesday he thought Iran needed some missiles.

 

The deal has faced skepticism from some of Trump’s key supporters and top Republicans. Vance told critics to trust the president. “He believes in the deal, he is going to see it to completion and if the Iranians don’t comply, we still have every single tool and point of leverage that we have,” the vice president said Thursday.

 

https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/vance-touts-iran-deal-as-win-for-u-s-no-matter-what-happens-next-a28cd409

 

 

 

[Tim]

Trump is for Trump.  

Bibi got his attention and bent his ear, and now Trump realizes, Bibi lead him to several kinds of ruin.

Trump now tries to save his own skin, and has gone back to Rule #1 of the Trumpian GOP: "I got mine, you get yours."

Maybe Itamar Ben-Gvir would like to plead his case to the US Senate?  Maybe he does not understand how eager some in Congress are to cut off his funding. Maybe he does not understand that Trump, and Team Trump, feels betrayed by Bibi.

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