JD Vance Says Netanyahu Aggressively Asserts Israel’s Interests During Iran War

Vice President JD Vance said U.S. and Israeli interests are not always aligned as President Trump’s relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been tested during the Iran war.

“WASHINGTON—Despite close coordination between US and Israeli leaders and their militaries from the earliest days of the Iran war, the two countries’ interests and objectives, and their leaders’ political priorities and constraints, have increasingly diverged”

Atlantic Council

Vance told Robert Costa in an interview airing on “CBS Sunday Morning” that Netanyahu “aggressively asserts the interests of his country” while Trump “has been very clear about what is in our best interest.”

Atlantic Council

The Atlantic Council described a widening divergence in objectives and priorities between Washington and Jerusalem, saying the once-modest gap “has opened into a chasm that will not be easily bridged.”

The Atlantic Council also tied the split to differing approaches to ending the war and to the Strait of Hormuz, noting that Israel experiences the economic disruption of the strait’s closure far less than the United States does.

In the midst of the exchange of fire, El País reported that Trump insisted “decides everything” and Netanyahu does not, adding that “Israel and Iran must immediately stop shooting,” he declared.

El País also quoted Trump’s remark that negotiations were “proceeding, subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way.”

CBS News

El País said the two leaders spoke by phone on Monday and cited Axios for Trump’s account that he told Netanyahu, “I said, ‘Bibi, you better be careful, or you will be on your own very soon,’”

Shmuel Rosner, described by El País as an expert on Israel–U.S. relations and senior fellow at the Jerusalem-based Jewish People Policy Institute, framed the frictions as a “conflict of interests,” not “personal disagreements.”

Mondoweiss reported that on Thursday Trump claimed an agreement had been reached to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, end the fighting, and begin talks on a permanent agreement between the two long-time enemies.

“The relationship between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu lends itself more to psychological analysis than political, after a decade in which the volatile U”

EL PAÍS English

Mondoweiss said Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency claimed Iran’s leadership was likely to sign the agreement because the United States had accepted its contents, while the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement that Israel was “not a party to the memorandum of understanding.”

In that same Netanyahu statement, Mondoweiss quoted Israel’s position that the final agreement would include “the removal of enriched material, the dismantling of enrichment infrastructure, limits on missile production, and the cessation of Iran’s support for its terrorist proxies in the region.”

The Atlantic Council warned that the likely deal would leave Iran capable of reconstituting its nuclear program if it cheats on the deal or when the deal expires, and that it would ensure Tehran has revenue to fund its military capabilities and terrorist proxies.