Vance accuses Israeli officials of trying to undercut Iran diplomacy
The vice president said an Israeli-linked effort sought to turn US opinion against Trump administration talks with Iran.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
3 min read
US Vice President JD Vance accused figures inside Israel’s government of trying to steer American opinion away from a US-backed deal with Iran. The remarks point to an unusually public rupture between Washington and a close ally over how to end the Iran war.
Vance made the comments in an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan that aired Wednesday. He defended an interim agreement reached last month by the Trump administration that was intended to stop the fighting with Iran.
Vance said he was certain that people in Israel’s government had worked to pull the United States away from that policy because they wanted the military campaign to continue. He also described what he called a foreign-funded effort to damage the deal he had been pursuing.
Campaign aimed at US opinion
Vance cited a Time Magazine report published Monday that said a former Trump campaign manager had been hired on Israel’s behalf to run a digital effort shaping US views of Israel and the Iran war. Vance told Rogan the effort was well funded and aimed at disrupting negotiations and the agreement.
He said people within Israel’s system were trying to influence American public opinion so the war would continue. Vance also said he had been personally targeted over his work on diplomacy with Iran.
Vance acknowledged that foreign governments, including US allies and adversaries, try to sway American policy. He said the problem comes when such efforts affect US political judgment.
Al Jazeera correspondent Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington, said the campaign Vance referred to appeared designed to reach President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again base, which she said is increasingly split over US policy toward Israel. Culhane said Rogan’s audience made the podcast a strategic venue because he is influential with younger men in that political base.
Rift over Iran policy
The Trump administration’s interim peace agreement with Iran was meant to halt the war, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. Al Jazeera reported that the deal has faced strong opposition in Israel and appeared to have largely fallen apart amid escalating US and Iranian attacks over the past week.
Asked by Rogan whether the United States would have entered the latest war with Iran without Israeli influence, Vance answered yes. He added that Trump, apart from Israel’s influence, believes Iran must not obtain a nuclear weapon, a position Vance said he shares.
Vance has criticized Israeli opponents of the Iran deal before. In June, he said Trump was Israel’s only ally and pointed to the billions of dollars in US military aid provided to Israel, according to Al Jazeera.
Former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas told Al Jazeera that Vance’s comments were unprecedented. Pinkas, now a columnist at The New Republic, said no sitting US vice president had previously accused Israel of running a campaign to undermine American policy.
Culhane also described Vance’s remarks as highly unusual. Israel’s government did not immediately respond to the comments, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters.
In the same interview, Vance also addressed controversy surrounding Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender. He said Epstein had unspecified high-level ties to both US and Israeli intelligence agencies, according to Al Jazeera.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.