On Monday, Vice President J.D. Vance stated he would not be endorsing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an interview with Mark Halperin.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump showed his full support for Netanyahu on Sunday as Israel prepares for elections later this month.
“I focus on American candidates, especially with the midterms coming up,” Vance mentioned while speaking on Air Force Two. “I’m not involved in Israeli elections.”
The vice president clarified further, “I’m neither anti-endorsing nor pro-endorsing him. I’m just not getting involved.”
This election cycle, Netanyahu is contending with several opponents, including Gadi Eisenkot, Yair Lapid, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Yair Golan, and Avigdor Liberman, all part of the opposition bloc. Recent polling indicates that Eisenkot and his Yashar party have a slight lead, but neither side seems to have enough backing to secure a 61-seat majority in the Knesset.
Trump characterized Netanyahu on Sunday as a “Great Warrior and an even greater Partner for Peace against [sic] the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
He also expressed on Truth Social, “If Israel has the wrong Leader, which would be anyone other than Bibi, America will have to take this on ourselves, and I really don’t want to do that. Bibi Netanyahu has shown strength and brilliance despite significant opposition, including from within Israel. This is the kind of Partner that the United States expects from Israel, a nation to which it has contributed so much.”
In a recent Fox News interview with Mark Levin, Netanyahu stated that if re-elected, his initial aim would be to “completely eliminate the Iranian threat to Israel, to America, and to the world.”
“This regime calls for ‘death to Israel,’ ‘death to America’ — you are the actual target,” Netanyahu remarked. “I believe we are making progress with President Trump’s effective leadership, both militarily and through economic sanctions. Let’s finish the job and empower the people of Iran to shape their own future. That would transform the Middle East.”
Vance had also campaigned alongside Hungary’s former Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest just days before the national election in April, which Orban ultimately lost. The vice president mentioned wanting “to assist [Orban] in this campaign cycle,” but emphasized that the U.S. would collaborate with whoever emerges victorious.
