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Chilling Echoes

42 0
09.06.2026

J.D. Vance, speaking on behalf of President Donald Trump, is beginning to sound more like Barack Obama than Barack Obama himself.

Obama wanted more daylight between the United States and Israel. Trump now wants more “space.” Obama pursued a long-term nuclear agreement with Iran, and Trump is chasing much the same objective. As Vance recently put it, “Over the last year and a half, we’ve created the space necessary where the president believes, and I think he’s right, that we can get a long-term settlement to Iran’s nuclear issue.”

A long-term settlement? Whatever happened to Trump’s unequivocal promise that Iran would never obtain a nuclear weapon?

Vance delivered the administration’s message to Israel with all the subtlety of an ultimatum: “Now, Israel may like that, they may not like that, but fundamentally, we think this is in the best interest of the United States of America.”

The fact that Vance, rather than Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has emerged as the administration’s chief spokesman on Iran should concern anyone who supports Israel. Rubio has long been among Israel’s strongest advocates. His relative absence from these discussions suggests he may be less enthusiastic than the White House about pursuing a grand bargain with the world’s leading........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)