Vance Stays Out of Israel's Race Days After Trump Backs Netanyahu
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Vice President JD Vance said Monday that he will not endorse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for re-election, days after President Donald Trump publicly gave Netanyahu his full backing. Vance did not rule an endorsement out, saying he is neither for nor against one.
The remarks, made in an interview with Mark Halperin on "2WAY Tonight," put the two men's public positions on Israel's election in different places just before Israelis vote.
What Vance said
Vance told Halperin that he endorses American candidates and is focused on the U.S. midterm elections. "I'm not getting involved in Israeli elections," he said, according to NBC News and CNN. CNN reported that the interview took place aboard Air Force Two.
He also made clear he was not taking a side against Netanyahu. Fox News, citing Politico, reported that Vance said he is not opposed to endorsing the prime minister and not in favor of it either. He called Trump's endorsement the most effective in American or international political history, according to NBC News.
What Trump said
Trump posted a lengthy message on Truth Social giving Netanyahu what he called a "Complete and Total Endorsement." Reports differ on the timing: Fox News and NBC News said Sunday, while CNN said Saturday.
According to Fox News, Trump praised Netanyahu as a strong ally and a partner in confronting Iran. NBC News reported that Trump wrote that if Israel had a leader other than Netanyahu, the United States would have to do the work itself, and that he was not inclined to do so.
Netanyahu thanked Trump, calling the endorsement extraordinary and saying Israel has never had a greater friend in the White House, according to Fox News.
A shift from earlier in the month
CNN reported that Trump had held off on endorsing Netanyahu before this. Earlier this month he told Time he was no longer involved in Israeli politics.
CNN described Vance's decision as an apparent break with Trump. It came as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made an unannounced trip to Israel, according to two sources familiar and a U.S. official. An Israeli source and another source told CNN that Hegseth met Monday evening with Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz.
The Hungary comparison
All three outlets noted that Vance has weighed in on a foreign election before. He traveled to Hungary in April to campaign alongside then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who lost his bid for re-election. NBC News reported that Orbán had been in power for 16 years. CNN noted that Trump had endorsed Orbán.
Why it matters for U.S. voters
The episode shows how the administration's top two officials are handling a politically sensitive foreign contest. Trump has tied his endorsement to U.S. policy on Iran. Vance has said his own attention is on the midterms.
The politics of Israel are also shifting at home. NBC News cited a Pew Research Center poll from May showing that favorable views of the Israeli government among Americans fell from 47% in 2022 to 32% in 2026.
NBC News also reported that Netanyahu faces growing criticism over the Gaza war and a rise in settler violence in the occupied West Bank. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday the administration was "very disturbed" by images of an attack that included American journalist Heidi Levine, a photographer working for The Washington Post. Netanyahu called the attack "alleged," NBC News reported. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee welcomed the arrest of 10 suspects on Monday. Levine remains in the hospital.
Vance's earlier comments on Israel
NBC News noted that Vance has taken a more skeptical line toward Israel than many Republicans. In June, he warned Israel against opposing U.S. efforts to negotiate an end to the joint war with Iran. He said at the time that Trump was the only head of state in the world sympathetic to Israel.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. Israel's election is days away, according to CNN.
