Vance says Israeli officials worked to sway US opinion against Iran deal
US Vice President JD Vance accused some members of Israel's government of trying to influence US public opinion against a deal to end the war with Iran. His remarks came during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast that aired on Wednesday.
"I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there have been people within the Israeli government who are, like, trying to actually shift us away from that policy because they want to continue the military campaign," Vance said. He also described what he called "a literal foreign influence campaign being funded to tank the very deal that I was pursuing," citing a Time Magazine report that a former Trump campaign manager was hired on behalf of Israel to run a digital campaign shaping US views of Israel and the Iran war.
Vance, seen by many as a potential future presidential candidate, has previously criticised Israel in what has become a widening public rift between the two countries. He told Rogan the campaign was "very discreet, extremely well-funded" and aimed at "derail[ing] the negotiation and derail[ing] the deal," adding that "there are some people within their system that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely."
The reaction from evangelical leaders
Laurie Cardoza-Moore, an Evangelical Christian Zionist leader, called on President Donald Trump to publicly distance himself from Vance's statements on Israel, Iran and alleged Israeli influence in American politics. Cardoza-Moore, founder and president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations (PJTN), said Vance's remarks risked legitimizing antisemitic conspiracy theories and harming relations between Israel and its Christian supporters in the United States.
"As one of the millions of Evangelical Christians who stand with Israel and our Jewish brethren, I call upon President Trump to immediately distance himself from the Vice President's recent statements regarding Israel and the Jewish people," she said in a statement released by PJTN. Cardoza-Moore, who hosts the Christian television program "Focus on Israel," described herself and her followers as "Zionist patriotic American Christians" and cited biblical passages supporting the state of Israel.
Vance's key remarks and the interim agreement
During the podcast, Vance also defended the deal the US reached last month to end the war with Iran, insisting "beyond a shadow of a doubt" that people within the Israeli government were trying to move Washington off that policy so the military campaign could continue.
The interim US-Iran peace agreement has faced significant opposition in Israel, where critics have argued it rewards Iranian aggression. Earlier this month, Israeli officials attempted to and partially suspended the agreement and launched strikes targeting Iran's nuclear program.
The accusations echoed longstanding antisemitic tropes about Jews exercising outsized influence over US foreign policy. Experts on the region have connected the Israeli-linked influence campaign Vance referenced to a possible effort to move Trump's "Make America Great Again" base, which has become increasingly divided over US policy toward Israel.