Yedioth Ahronoth: The US vice president with unprecedented harsh criticism on Israel
Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper revealed the state of shock within Israeli political circles following the sharp criticism leveled by US Vice President JD Vance against ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for their opposition to the US agreement with Iran.
According to the Israeli newspaper, the Israeli government avoided a direct response to Vance’s remarks for fear of deepening the rift with US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticized the Israeli prime minister in recent days.
Israeli officials also considered Vance’s statements to carry unprecedented messages and an implicit warning regarding the future of US support for Israel.
Vance’s remarks came in response to criticism from Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir regarding the agreement with Iran, to which he said: “You’re a country of 9 million people, and you cannot kill your way out of every problem”.
Yedioth Ahronoth quoted an informed Israeli source as saying that Vance sent a clear message to Netanyahu that he needed to control his ministers and not challenge the US administration, noting that the Israeli prime minister had put himself in direct confrontation with Trump and Vance through his public objection to the course of the agreement with Tehran.
With regard to Lebanon, the differences between Washington and Tel Aviv have become more apparent, as Israel insists on maintaining its military presence in southern Lebanon and links any withdrawal to addressing the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons, while the US administration is pushing for a broader truce in the region.
