U.S. Vice President JD Vance stated on Wednesday that the recent influx of top American officials visiting Israel serves to oversee the delicate cease-fire agreement in Gaza, rather than to “monitor a toddler.” He and the Israeli prime minister stressed their commitment to a close, collaborative alliance.
“We don’t want a vassal state, and that’s not what Israel is,” Mr. Vance declared. “We don’t want a client state, and that’s not what Israel is. We want a partnership.”
These remarks came after Mr. Vance’s meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. His trip followed closely on the heels of President Trump’s visit just over a week prior, with Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, also having been in Israel recently.
The Vice President clarified that these high-level engagements are integral to American efforts to safeguard the cease-fire. “It’s not about monitoring in the sense of, you know, you monitor a toddler,” he explained. “It’s about monitoring in the sense that there’s a lot of work, a lot of good people who are doing that work, and it’s important for the principals in the administration to keep on ensuring that our people are doing what we need them to do.”
Vice President JD Vance met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
However, Mr. Vance cautioned that moving forward with the cease-fire deal would be challenging.
Building on elements of a proposal put forth by Mr. Trump in September, Israel and Hamas reached a truce this month in their two-year conflict. Despite this agreement, the cease-fire has experienced increasing tension and repeated outbreaks of violence in Gaza.
Several Trump administration officials, speaking anonymously due to the private nature of their discussions, expressed concern that Mr. Netanyahu might abandon the deal. Their current strategy involves Mr. Vance, Mr. Witkoff, and Mr. Kushner working to prevent the prime minister from resuming a full-scale assault against Hamas.
Palestinians in Nuseirat Camp, central Gaza, on Monday inspecting the aftermath of an attack.
Mr. Vance affirmed the Trump administration’s dedication to transitioning the cease-fire into a lasting peace. This, he noted, would allow the United States to “care less about the Middle East because our allies in the region are stepping up and taking control and taking ownership of their area of the world.”
To achieve this, the Vice President indicated that the administration aims to expand the Abraham Accords, a series of agreements brokered during the first Trump administration that normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab nations. The Gaza peace plan, Mr. Vance emphasized, is a crucial component of this broader initiative.
Numerous complex issues remain unresolved on the path to enduring peace, including how officials plan to convince Hamas to disarm.
Mr. Netanyahu has consistently maintained that the militant group must relinquish its weapons for the war to conclude. However, Hamas has historically viewed this demand as an act of surrender, considering armed struggle against Israel a fundamental aspect of its ideology.
When questioned on Wednesday about strategies to persuade Hamas to disarm, Mr. Vance offered no specific details, simply stating, “We’re going to keep working on it.” The previous day, Mr. Vance did not set a deadline for Hamas’s disarmament nor did he outline how officials would ensure the militant group adheres to this part of the cease-fire agreement.
Another critical question centers on the envisioned role for the Palestinian Authority, which currently governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Mr. Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected the idea of the authority controlling postwar Gaza.
On Wednesday, two senior Palestinian Authority leaders, Hussein al-Sheikh (the vice president) and Majed Faraj (the intelligence chief), were scheduled to travel to Cairo. They planned to meet with Egyptian officials to discuss the future of postwar Gaza, as confirmed by a spokesman for Mr. al-Sheikh.
Mr. Vance also held discussions with Isaac Herzog, Israel’s president, and met with hostages recently released from Gaza. He is expected to return to Washington on Thursday.
The initial phase of the cease-fire included the release of 20 hostages held in Gaza last week, in exchange for Israel releasing nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Since then, Hamas has returned the bodies of at least 15 individuals to Israel, and Israel has returned the bodies of over 150 Palestinians to Gaza.
Mr. Vance concluded by expressing optimism that the truce would endure.
“I think that we have an opportunity to do something really historic, so we’re going to keep working at it with all of our friends in the Israeli government,” he said.