Vice President JD Vance spoke candidly with The New York Times’ Ross Douthat this week about how pro-Israel factions are criticizing the Iran deal with the U.S., saying at one point Israel couldn’t “kill” its way out of its problems.
“You’ve seen people in their system — [Itamar] Ben-Gvir and [Bezalel] Smotrich — who’ve attacked the deal. And I guess my response to them would be: What is your exact proposal? You’re a country of 9 million people,” he said in the interview posted Thursday. “You can’t just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have.”
The U.S. and the Iranian regime have crafted a new Memorandum of Understanding to re-open the Strait of Hormuz and address the Islamic regime’s nuclear program. Critics say the arrangement echoes the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal — which President Donald Trump has long derided — by granting Tehran economic concessions before securing permanent restrictions, while supporters argue it is the most practical way to prevent a wider Middle East war and a potentially devastating shock to the global economy.
“I don’t think this deal is popular in Israel right now. I don’t think you’re an especially popular figure in Israel today,” Douthat said, asking whether he agrees with the growing perception that there is a misalignment between the interests of the U.S. and Israel.
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“Well, what I’d say here is that it’s clear that large segments of the Israeli political system and population are very sensitive about this deal, but I also think they’re picking up on some misinformation about the deal and running with it and panicking about it,” Vance said. “And I fundamentally believe this deal will be good for the entire region and for the world. That includes, of course, the Israelis.”
He clarified that while he believes this deal is the best possible scenario for the world at large, “Fundamentally, we’re worried about what’s in the best interest of the American people. And to the extent that — and I think the president has shown this — where he sees misalignment between the goals of the political system in Israel and the goals of the American people, he’s willing to say that we’re going to pursue America’s interests where there are divergences.”
Vance went on to note that while he has not seen Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticize the deal, other Israelis have been quite vocal.
Vance made a reference to Ben-Gvir, the Israeli National Security Minister, who said in a recent controversial X post in response to the killing of four Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah, “With all due respect to the Americans, Israel must make it clear to the entire world that the blood of our sons and the security of our citizens are not forfeit. All of Lebanon must burn. Our supreme duty is to protect the citizens of Israel and the soldiers of the IDF, and this commitment takes precedence over every other consideration.”
Vance’s remarks to Douthat come as he warned Israeli officials against “attacking the only powerful ally that I have left anywhere in the entire world” while speaking at the White House this week.
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“Look at what we’ve accomplished,” Vance told Douthat. “First of all, Americans have protected a lot of Israeli lives through our missile systems and through our missile programs over the last few months. We have destroyed their nuclear program. We have got the Iranians at a point where they are offering things — again, whether they’ll actually act on them, we’ll see — but they’re offering things that would have been the stuff of dreams even six months ago. So let us play this negotiation out.”
He was later asked by Douthat what he would tell more hawkish GOP figures like Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who might fear the deal with Iran is a “big sellout.”
“We’re in the business of solving real problems, not solving abstract problems, and so, if your view is that opening the Straits, getting them to commit to the destruction of the enriched uranium, and any other number of potential benefits that will come along with this deal — it’s not just whether this is good or bad, it’s, ‘What is the alternative?’ ‘What do you want to do?’” Vance asked.
“If your proposal is to send 200,000 ground troops into Tehran so that you can make Reza Pahlavi the leader of that country, then say that,” he said. “But I don’t appreciate criticism without alternatives.”
