U.S. Vice President JD Vance said American policy in the Middle East cannot be made “subservient” to Israel, arguing that Washington must pursue its own interests even when they differ from those of close partners.
Vance made the comments while discussing President Donald Trump’s relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and criticism from parts of the American right that US foreign policy has become too heavily influenced by Israel. “Obviously Israel has been an important partner when it comes to military technology, when it comes to intelligence sharing, but also sometimes the United States doesn’t always agree with Israel,” he said.
Vance argued that Trump has demonstrated a greater willingness than other recent presidents to take a different path from Netanyahu when he believes American interests require it. “I think that more than, frankly, any president in the last 40 years, he has shown a willingness to actually part ways with Bibi Netanyahu when he feels like the interests of the American people are different from the interests of the government of Israel,” he said.
He also pushed back on criticism from Democrats over Trump’s relationship with Netanyahu. “I find it a little ironic, Jason, that you have Democrats criticizing Donald Trump for his relationship with Bibi, when Donald Trump is the one president of the last 40 years who has been willing to say, ‘You know what? Yeah, Bibi’s a good partner, but also Bibi and I have a different opinion on this,’ or ‘Bibi’s wrong about this,’ or maybe ‘Bibi’s right about this from the perspective of Israel, but the American people need us to go in a different direction.’”
Vance said the relationship with Israel, like all U.S. foreign relationships, should ultimately be guided by American interests. “Rooting this relationship, like all relationships, in America’s interests is the way to actually have a rational conversation here,” he said. Keeping that focus, he argued, allows Washington to reconsider policies that may have become accepted slogans or conventional wisdom over the past several decades.
He drew a parallel with the administration’s approach to NATO, saying that strong alliances do not mean Washington should surrender control over its foreign policy. “That doesn’t mean that we’re going to completely make our European foreign policy subservient to NATO in the same way that we cannot let our Middle Eastern foreign policy be subservient to the state of Israel,” Vance said.
“We’re going to work with people when we work with them. We’re going to disagree when we disagree,” he added, saying the administration’s overriding goal is to pursue U.S. interests.