Washington, United States. US Vice President JD Vance said some members of the Israeli government had sought to influence US public opinion against a US-brokered deal to end the war with Iran. He made the comments in a podcast episode with host Joe Rogan posted on Wednesday.
Claims of influence efforts
Vance said he knew “beyond a shadow of a doubt” that people within the Israeli government were trying to shift the United States away from the policy because they wanted the military campaign to continue.
While saying he had good relationships with some Israeli government members, Vance said others were “manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely.”
He said allies and adversaries routinely sought to influence US policy, and that such efforts by Israel, Russia and other countries did not itself concern him. However, he said it was troubling when influence campaigns affected American political judgment.
Dispute over Iran deal
Vance defended the deal reached last month to end the war with Iran. Critics in the United States and Israel have said the agreement failed to curb Iran’s missile programme, offered no clear path to dismantling its nuclear facilities and constrained Israel in its war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
Israeli senior officials, speaking anonymously, have said the terms were bad for Israel because they did not address concerns about Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. They said that view was shared across Israel’s leadership.
Earlier criticism
Vance had previously criticised Israeli opponents of the Iran deal in June, saying President Donald Trump was Israel’s only ally and referring to the billions of dollars in US defence aid Israel receives.
Asked whether the United States would have engaged in the most recent war with Iran without Israeli influence, Vance replied: “Yes, yes I do.”