Vance warns Israeli leaders critical of Trump: 'Wake up'

Senior Israeli officials, such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have been vocally critical of the Iran deal and called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ignore to key terms.

Published: June 18, 2026 12:18pm

Vice President JD Vance on Thursday warned Israeli leaders against alienating President Donald Trump with personal attacks over the Iran deal, reminding them that the Trump administration is one of that country's few remaining allies.

Senior Israeli officials, such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have been vocally critical of the Iran deal and called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ignore to key terms, while some have lobbed personal attacks on President Donald Trump.

"What I will say, and this does bother me, is that you've seen people within Bibi's cabinet who have come out and attacked the deal, and in some ways very personally attacked the President of the United States, and I guess my message to them would be twofold," he said, while speaking to reporters at the White House.

"Number one, Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time, and he happens to be the head of state of the world superpower," Vance said. "If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world."

"And the second message I would give to some of those cabinet members, Bibi, to his credit, has not gone down this path, but to some of these cabinet members in Israel who are attacking the present United States, the other thing that I would say is that over the last three months, two thirds of the defensive weapons that have protected your homeland have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars," he added. "The problem for Israel is not Donald J. Trump, and anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the President of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in."

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent for Just the News. Follow him on X.

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