JD Vance appears at a campaign rally in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in July 2025. Vance recently criticized Israeli leaders for publicly opposing President Trump’s ceasefire deal with Iran. (Shutterstock/Joey Sussman)

JD Vance Is Wrong: Israel Is Not Just Another Ally

Share this link on Facebook

Share this page on X (Twitter)

Share this link on LinkedIn

Share this page on Reddit

Email a link to this page

The Vice President is wrong to dismiss Israel’s fears of the recent agreement with Iran—and to attack Jerusalem for failing to blindly fall in line.

Vice President JD Vance is wrong about Israel.

He is wrong to suggest that Israel is an ally like any other. He is wrong to treat the fears of America’s most reliable Middle Eastern partner as a political inconvenience. And he is wrong if he believes that America First requires public impatience with Israel and the Gulf while granting diplomatic patience to Iran.

This is not how a great power reassures its friends. This is not how America preserves deterrence. And this is not how the Vice President of the United States should speak when the security of Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Kuwait is at stake.

The Vice President’s Words Carry Tremendous Weight

I say this as a friend of America, a friend of Israel, and a believer in peace. The United States has every right to reject endless wars. The American people have every right to demand restraint, prudence, and discipline from their leaders. But restraint is not indifference. Prudence is not public scolding of allies. And America First cannot mean allies last.

Mr. Vice President, you are not a podcaster competing for applause. You are not a commentator engaged in one-upmanship before microphones and cameras. You are the Vice President of the United States. Your words do not disappear into the noise of a media cycle. They travel through embassies, war rooms, intelligence services, royal courts, parliaments, markets, and military headquarters. They reassure allies, or they alarm them. They deter enemies, or they encourage them.

When the Vice President of the United States speaks about Israel, Iran, and the future of the Middle East, he is not........

© The National Interest