Donald Trump is scrambling to save the political career of Benjamin Netanyahu, the top foreign enabler of the United States’ endless war with Iran, before next week’s crucial Israeli election.
Vice President JD Vance normally nods along with everything President Donald Trump says, no matter how little sense it makes. So whenever the two don’t line up, it’s worth taking notice. That’s why so many D.C. watchers perked up when Vance split with Trump on whether to back Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is fighting for his political future in one of the world’s most consequential elections, set for a week from today.
“I endorse American candidates, and that’s where I’m focused on in the midterms. So I’m not getting involved in Israeli elections,” Vance told a journalist yesterday evening. (Never mind that Vance had
no problem endorsingHungarian strongman Viktor Orbán this spring!) This time, Vance declined to follow Trump’s enthusiastic social media endorsement of Netanyahu from the day before, which described the Israeli leader as a “Great Warrior” who “WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”
Vance’s split with Trump over the embattled Israeli leader shows a rare divide between America’s top two officials. The moment underscores how unpopular the administration’s foreign policy has become — and shows Vance, ever so delicately, backing away from toxic Trump as he eyes the 2028 presidential election.
Israelis will decide on Tuesday whether Netanyahu deserves to keep his job. The right-wing PM’s coalition is
down in the polls, and he hasno clear pathto victory besides forming a new coalition or pulling off a major upset. Netanyahu’s opposition, led by a former Israeli military official Gadi Eisenkot, doesn’t have a commanding lead either. But Eisenkot could rise to power if he joins parties led by Palestinians (which he has ruled out doing.)
“I am not certain of my victory, and I am very worried,” Netanyahu said
in a radio interviewover the weekend.
If Netanyahu goes down, Trump will lose a critical backer for his forever war in Iran. Eisenkot has
been skepticalthat striking Iran over and over makes sense, and said that Iran’s downfall via military action isn’t an “achievable goal.” Netanyahu, however,doubled downon his hawkish views toward Iran today, saying that the regime must be severed at the head, because the “entire creature will fall.” (The head? Didn’t Trump kill Iran’s leaders, just for new ones to pop up? Iran is more like Hydra, just sayin’.)
Vance has been distancing himself from both Israel and Trump’s Iran war.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth traveled to Israel to chat with Netanyahu about the war this week — an assignment the veep is surely relieved he didn’t receive.
Vance has subtly attempted to position himself as the anti-war guy in Trump’s inner circle. He was initially chosen to be the face of U.S. negotiations with the regime, but those talks went absolutely nowhere. Stories later broke about how Vance
allegedly opposedgoing to war with Iran in the first place. Over the summer, Vance also said that Israel has almost no friends left in the world.
Is Vance trying to align himself with popular opinion, even as his administration makes unpopular decisions? It appears so. About two-thirds of Americans
disapprove of howthe Trump administration has handled the war. Only one-third of Americanshave a favorable viewof the Israeli government.
Vance may simply want the war to wrap up as soon as possible, so that his political career isn’t forever stained by a conflict that his boss launched for no good reason and couldn’t end. “I would say in some ways, we have won decisively,” Vance recently told CBS News. Spoken like a guy who wants this to be over already!
Will Vance denounce the Iran war that his own White House launched when he inevitably runs for president? Brace yourself to hear him tell us that he’s looking for the guy who did this.
And here, for no particular reason except to explain the pun in our subject line, and because this song rules, is a reminder that it’s always a good moment to hit play on LCD Soundsystem’s classic banger, Dance Yrself Clean.
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