US Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that Washington can’t let its policies in the Middle East be “subservient” to those of Israel, and must place its own interests first.

Speaking to a conference organized by the All-In Podcast, Vance said of US-Israel ties: “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… agree with Israel.”

He said that US President Donald Trump is ready to place his country first if need be.

“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,” Vance said, using Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nickname.

“Donald Trump is the one president of the last 40 years who’s 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 argued that “rooting this relationship, like all relationships, in America’s interest is the way to actually have a rational conversation here.”

The vice president said this was true for NATO as well.

“[We have] a lot of important relationships, a lot of important partnerships in NATO, but that doesn’t........

© The Times of Israel