Vice President JD Vance declined this week to endorse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even after President Donald Trump publicly backed the longtime Israeli leader ahead of next week's election.
In an interview on Mark Halperin's 2WAY Tonight, published Monday, Vance kept his distance. “The president has the most effective endorsement in American or international political history,” he said. Then he drew a line: “I endorse American candidates, and that's where I'm focused on in the midterms.”
Vance was careful not to make his stance sound like a rebuke. “I'm not anti-endorsing him. I'm not pro-endorsing him,” he said. “I'm not getting involved in Israeli elections.”
The President's Position
Trump left no ambiguity. On Truth Social on Sunday, he called Netanyahu “a Great Warrior Prime Minister, and an even greater Partner for Peace in combating the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Netanyahu thanked Trump in a social media post of his own for his “tremendous support and work together.”
Netanyahu is the country's longest-serving prime minister. Trump cast him as a wartime leader and partner against Iran, putting the security relationship front and center rather than the personalities involved.
A Vice President With Foreign Campaign Experience
Vance's restraint stands out because he hasn't always stayed on the sidelines abroad. In April, he traveled to Budapest and publicly endorsed then-Prime Minister Viktor Orban's reelection bid. Orban lost after 16 years in power. Last year, Vance met Alice Weidel, leader of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany party, at a security conference in Munich; Elon Musk was also boosting the party at the time.
That track record makes Vance's answer on Netanyahu harder to dismiss as a simple matter of principle. His endorsement of Orban, for one, ended in defeat for the man he backed.
A Shifting Domestic Mood
The Israeli vote will be the first national election since Hamas attacked Israel in late 2023. Back home, the ground has shifted. U.S. public support for Israel, historically strong among both Republicans and Democrats, has fallen sharply. Debate in the United States has intensified over the Netanyahu-led government's response to the Hamas attack.
Vance has spoken bluntly about the strain. In June, he said Israel had almost no friends left in the world and should think hard before turning on the one it has.
Set beside his refusal to endorse, that comment suggests an administration speaking with more than one voice about how closely to embrace Jerusalem's current government, even as the president himself is all in.
Why This Matters:
Trump's open endorsement and Vance's studied neutrality show how an alliance can hold firm while its political management grows more complicated. A government that prizes sovereignty has reason to stay out of another democracy's election, and Vance said as much. But the stakes aren't small. Israel's election is the first since the October 2023-era Hamas attack, and American support for Israel, once a bipartisan constant, has dropped sharply. Whoever wins next week will inherit a relationship with Washington built on shared security interests, particularly against Iran, and public backing that can't be taken for granted. Allies expecting American support will want to know where the administration actually stands.
- jd vance
- benjamin netanyahu
- donald trump
- israeli election
- u.s.-israel relations
- viktor orban
- hamas attack