Current sectionIsrael NewsIsrael SecurityThe U.S. vice president responded to the Israeli ministers' criticism of the Iran deal. 'What is your exact proposal?' Vance asked, describing the Israeli reaction as a 'weird panic,' in an interview with the New York TimesShare to FacebookShare to XArticle printing is available to subscribers onlyPrint in a simple, ad-free formatSubscribeComments: Zen reading is available to subscribers onlyAd-free and in a comfortable reading formatSubscribeU.S. Vice President JD Vance at an event at Gold Coast Studios in Bethpage, New York, on Wednesday. Credit: Spencer Platt/ReutersU.S. Vice President JD Vance at an event at Gold Coast Studios in Bethpage, New York, on Wednesday. Credit: Spencer Platt/Reuters06:25 PM • June 18 2026 IDTWASHINGTON – U.S. Vice President JD Vance criticized Israeli far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir and other Israeli officials for their response to the emerging agreement with Iran in an interview with The New York Times, describing the Israeli response as a "weird panic." Marking the first time a senior Trump administration official criticized the Israeli ministers by name, Vance addressed Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, saying, "What is your exact proposal?" adding, "You can't just kill your way out of ... every national security problem."Vance said that, to his knowledge, Netanyahu has not criticized the deal himself because he is "a little bit more familiar with the details of what's in it."From right, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defence Minister Israel Katz in the Knesset plenum, 2025. Credit: Noam Moskowitz/KnessetFrom right, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defence Minister Israel Katz in the Knesset plenum, 2025. Credit: Noam Moskowitz/KnessetVance described the reaction among some Israeli officials as a "weird panic," noting that they assume Iran will benefit from the deal without "changing any behavior.""I just don't know why anybody would think that's true," Vance said. "That's not how the deal is written."The vice president added that negotiations with Iran should be allowed to play out. "Let us see if the Iranian actions actually meet the Iranian words," he said, asking Israeli officials to give the U.S. credit for being "an incredible partner for the Israeli government for a long time."Click here to read the full text of the MoU, as read out by a U.S. official on WednesdayHaaretz PodcastTrump made a deal with Iran. What will Netanyahu do? Haaretz PodcastTrump made a deal with Iran. What will Netanyahu do? total-- : --time0:00Vance has been the face of the Trump administration's Iran diplomacy in recent days, being both the lead negotiator and the public face of the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding. He has also expressed explicit consternation with Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stating that U.S. and Israeli interests may not always be consistent and that the prime minister has gotten things wrong. Netanyahu's allies have subsequently centered their criticism of the deal on Vance.According to the vice president, the United States still maintains financial leverage over Iran. "The president of the United States or the secretary of the Treasury has to release all these sanctions," he told The Times. "Do they actually think we're going to release sanctions on the Iranian system if they're still funding a terrorist organization?"U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks to The New York Times columnist Ross Douthat in this screengrab from the "Interesting Times" podcast. Credit: The New York Times U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks to The New York Times columnist Ross Douthat in this screengrab from the "Interesting Times" podcast. Credit: The New York Times Vance told Douthat he found "this whole freakout in Israel a little bit odd because I think that it comes from a place of mistrust," adding that the United States has earned the trust of countries in the region.Addressing Israel, he said: "We've done a very good job by that particular country and that particular government, and I think that the idea that we've made a terrible deal is not supported by the facts."Iran has begun implementing parts of the deal, Vance told The Times. "The Strait of Hormuz is open immediately," he said, noting that overnight into Wednesday was "the first night in over 100 days of conflict where the Iranians were not shooting at commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz." The vice president said there are internal Iranian divisions as to when the deal becomes official, but noted the U.S. has observed "some coalescing with both the hard-liners and the pragmatists behind the idea" of a peace deal. "There are very significant wins in the MOU itself, but the big wins are fundamentally conditional. Conditional on whether the Iranians actually transform the way that they behave vis-à-vis the region," Vance told Douthat. Asked if Iran has agreed to destroy its stockpile of enriched uranium, Vance said the deal includes a "minimum methodology for the destruction" of the material, but said it was not "a blood oath." A screenshot from the IRNA website, showing Iranian President Pezeshkian holding a signed copy of the memorandum of understanding between Iran and the U.S. Credit: IRNA ScreenshotA screenshot from the IRNA website, showing Iranian President Pezeshkian holding a signed copy of the memorandum of understanding between Iran and the U.S. Credit: IRNA ScreenshotAccording to the vice president, the Iranian military was destroyed alongside the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. "They have no capacity right now to enrich uranium, to stockpile uranium. The facilities that they built have now been buried under rubble," he said. The economic benefits included in the agreement, Vance said, were conditioned on the Iranians "fundamentally [transforming] their country." The vice president also noted the war in Iran had changed the way the regime approached negotiations. 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