US Vice-President JD Vance has alleged that some members of the Israeli government are trying to influence US public opinion against a possible deal to end the Iran war. He made the comments in an interview with US podcaster Joe Rogan on Wednesday, in which he sharply criticised Israel, one of Washington’s closest allies. Backing the deal the US reached with Iran last month to end the war, Vance said: “Some members of the Israeli government want the military campaign to continue. So they are trying to steer the US away from that deal.” Vance, discussed as a possible future US presidential candidate, has criticised Israel before, sharpening the differences between the two countries.
Vance told Rogan: “A foreign-funded campaign is being run to derail the deal I was working for, to turn public opinion against it.” He cited a Time magazine report published on Monday saying a former manager of Trump’s election campaign had been hired to run a digital campaign on Israel’s behalf to influence US opinion on the Iran war, and said the campaign to wreck the talks and the deal had been run very secretly and with heavy funding. He believes some inside the Israeli government want to influence US opinion to keep the war going indefinitely. Al Jazeera’s Washington correspondent Patty Culhane said the Israel-linked campaign Vance described was probably aimed mainly at President Trump’s “MAGA” (Make America Great Again) supporters, among whom differences over US policy toward Israel are growing, which is why Vance went on Rogan’s podcast — Rogan being one of the most popular US podcasters, with considerable influence over young MAGA supporters.
Vance also claimed that an Israel-linked group had attacked him personally over the diplomatic outreach to Iran: “I am trying to carry out the negotiating goal the president set for the country, and that is why I am being attacked so fiercely.” He added: “Ally or adversary, every country tries to influence US policy. Israel does too, and I have no objection to that. My concern is only when such influence campaigns actually shape US political decisions.” Vance also spoke in favour of the interim peace deal reached between the US and Iran last month, which faces heavy opposition in Israel, though the deal appears to have effectively collapsed amid a rise in tit-for-tat attacks between the US and Iran over the past week. Asked whether he thought the US would have got involved in the latest Iran war without Israel’s influence, Vance said, “Yes, I think so,” adding: “Israel’s influence is a separate matter. But the president firmly believes, and I agree, that Iran should not have nuclear weapons.”
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