United States Vice President JD Vance has accused some individuals within the Israeli government of being involved in a covert campaign aimed at undermining him over the Trump administration’s efforts to negotiate a deal with Iran.
Speaking with Joe Rogan on his podcast, which aired on Wednesday, Vance sought to downplay claims about Israel’s influence on U.S. policy regarding the Iran conflict.
“There’s a lot of talk about how much the Israeli government is influencing American politics. There are certainly certain people within the Israeli government who hate the deal. And we see exact evidence,” Vance said.
He also referred to a report published Tuesday by Time magazine, which examined allegations that Brad Parscale, a former Trump campaign manager, was connected to an Israeli government-funded effort that paid conservative influencers to encourage their audiences to oppose a ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran.
“I definitely think you have seen this very discreet, extremely well-funded campaign to try to derail the negotiation and try to derail the deal,” Vance told Rogan.
Vance said the Time report was significant because it identified individuals who had allegedly received payments from a former Trump campaign official who was, in turn, funded by elements within the Israeli government.
“Those people are attacking me viciously for quite literally trying to accomplish the negotiation objective that the president set for the country,” he said.
When Rogan asked how the alleged attacks were being carried out, Vance said they involved social media posts and leaks to journalists.
“They’re attacking me obsessively, saying that we should not be negotiating with Iran. We should just keep the military campaign going indefinitely,” Vance said.
“That is their explicit position,” he added.
Vance said critics had accused him of being influenced by Qatar, foreign governments, or conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, describing such claims as false.
“What I’m actually trying to do is accomplish what the president of the United States told me to accomplish, which is a settlement that achieves our objectives,” he said.
According to Vance, those objectives include ensuring that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon and maintaining the “free flow of oil and gas.”
The vice president added that he does not object to foreign governments attempting to influence U.S. policy, saying such efforts are common in international relations.
“I don’t actually mind that certain elements of the Israeli government want to criticize the deal or have disagreements about the deal. I don’t even mind an effort to try to influence foreign governments to try to influence the United States all the time. You know, Israel does it, other countries do it. It’s just sort of the nature of the beast,” he said.
However, Vance said he objects when foreign influence affects American leaders’ judgment or policy decisions.
“What bothers me is actually when American leadership allows that influence to affect their judgment and to affect what they are advocating for,” he said.
Referencing the Time report, Vance alleged that a foreign influence effort was designed to undermine the agreement he was pursuing.
“When I open up the pages of Time magazine, and I see that there’s a literal foreign influence campaign being funded to tank the very deal that I was pursuing, and many of the people who were receiving that money were actually attacking me in completely dishonest ways, my response to that is: go to hell. I’m going to do what I have to do for the American people,” he said.
“I represent Americans first, and that’s the way that I’ve tried to do this job,” he added.
Vance Defends Position on Israel
During the interview, Vance also defended his views on Israel amid accusations that he holds antisemitic or anti-Zionist positions.
“The crazy thing is, people don’t realize this, I’m actually… like the reasonable moderate,” Vance said while describing what he called the “massive pro-Israel, anti-Israel debate in the U.S.”
He said accusations that he is antisemitic were unfounded.
“I have a ton of respect for the Jewish religion. I’ve never heard a good compelling argument for why I’m an antisemite, even though I’ve been accused of being antisemitic by many people,” he said.
Vance described Israel as an ally of the United States, comparing the relationship to that between America and countries such as France and the United Kingdom.
“My attitude towards this is Israel is an ally like France or the UK. We are going to have disagreements with them; we are going to have agreements with them. There are areas where we’re going to have similar interests and areas where our interests are going to diverge,” he said.
Debate Over Foreign Influence
Vance and Rogan also discussed allegations that Israel attempts to influence U.S. politics.
“I think some are better at it than others. I think Israel is definitely more effective at it than most. But I wouldn’t say they’re the only effective country trying to influence American politics by any means,” Vance said.
Rogan raised concerns about allegations involving foreign influence, including claims related to political funding, lobbying, and whether U.S. politicians prioritize foreign interests over American interests.
“I definitely get those concerns,” Vance responded, adding that foreign influence campaigns generally seek to shape public opinion in order to achieve political goals.
“My sense is that the way that all foreign influence works in the United States is people try to manipulate American public opinion, and then from manipulating public opinion they try to get the outcomes that they want,” he said.
Vance further alleged that some individuals within the Israeli government were attempting to shift U.S. policy away from negotiations because they wanted the military campaign against Iran to continue.
He emphasized that he maintained positive relationships with some Israeli officials and did not believe they were involved.
“I think the ambassador of Israel to the United States is actually a really good guy. Obviously, he cares about Israel first. I care about America first,” Vance said.
However, he reiterated his claim that some officials were attempting to influence American public opinion to prolong the conflict.
“There are some people within their system, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt, who are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely,” he said.
