US Vice President JD Vance says Washington can't allow its 'Middle East policy to become subservient' to Israel
Washington, Sep 16 (UNI) US Vice President JD Vance said Washington cannot allow its "Middle East policy to become subservient" to Israel and should instead put American interests first. Speaking at a conference organised by the All-In Podcast on Tuesday, Vance described Israel as an important US partner in military technology and intelligence sharing but said the two governments do not always agree.
He said President Donald Trump had shown a willingness to break with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he believes US and Israeli interests differ. "I think that more than frankly any president in the last 40 years, he has shown a willingness to actually part ways with Bibi Netanyahu when he feels like the interests of the American people are different from the interests of the government of Israel," Vance said, using Netanyahu's nickname.
Vance said Trump had been prepared to acknowledge that Netanyahu could be right from Israel's perspective while the US could still need to take a different approach. "Rooting this relationship, like all relationships, in America's interest is the way to actually have a rational conversation here," he said. He compared the approach to Washington's relationship with NATO, saying that while the US had important partnerships with European allies, that did not mean its foreign policy should be subordinate to the alliance.
"We're gonna work with people when we work with them, we're gonna disagree when we disagree. And we're gonna pursue America's interests. That's the only way to have a rational foreign policy," Vance said. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, meanwhile, said the relationship between Trump and Netanyahu remained strong. In an interview with Ynet published Wednesday, Huckabee said the two countries work "incredibly close together" and suggested that their cooperation went beyond what was publicly understood.
Addressing declining support for Israel in the US, Huckabee attributed it to what he described as "misinformation". He also argued that the US confrontation with Iran was not solely about protecting Israel. "When we are partnering against Iran, we're not defending Israel, we're defending the United States," Huckabee said, citing Iran's longstanding "Death to America" rhetoric. "Israel is maybe the appetizer, but we're the entree," he added.
Huckabee rejected claims that Israel had pushed Trump into war with Iran, saying the president acted independently. "He did it from his own volition," Huckabee said. Asked if America would go to war with Iran or some other power to defend Israel against an existential threat, Huckabee said only, "If it was in America's best interest, the president would act. But that's what he's required to do." He also addressed extremist settler violence in the West Bank, which he has previously condemned.
Huckabee stressed that he did not believe those responsible represented the wider settler community. "I have never attributed all of these actions to settlers," he said. "In fact, I say they're not settlers, they're unsettlers."
