As pressure mounts on the White House over its peace agreement with Iran, it is JD Vance whose neck is on the line – and he is coming out swinging.
The Vice President, whose credibility has become tied to the success of the unpopular deal, has staunchly defended it as a win. He hit out with some of his toughest comments yet at a leading source of criticism: Israel.
“Donald J Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” he told reporters on Thursday. “If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.”
Vance went on to remind members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government – several of whom have spoken out against the deal – that they are lavishly armed and funded by the US.
The comments stunned observers of what is usually a warm alliance with the Jewish state. Columnist and author Shadi Hamid described them as “probably the toughest public criticism offered by a US administration towards Israel in my lifetime”.
