Vance: Israeli government members ‘hate’ Iran deal

Administration Vance: Israeli government members ‘hate’ Iran deal Comments: by Ashleigh Fields - 07/16/26 10:42 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Ashleigh Fields - 07/16/26 10:42 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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Vice President Vance on Wednesday said that some within the Israeli government “hate” the U.S.- Iran deal spurred by the 14-point memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed last month.

“There’s a lot of talk about how much the Israeli government is influencing American politics. There are certainly certain people within the Israeli government who hate the deal. And we see exact evidence,” Vance said during a Wednesday appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.

The MOU cemented a 60-day ceasefire, which has largely been abandoned. The deal intended to open the Strait of Hormuz while Iran reaffirmed its commitment not to develop nuclear weapons and agreed to dispose of its enriched uranium stockpiles.

“There are some people within their system, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt, who are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely,” Vance said to Rogan. “Not toward any objective, but just indefinitely.”

Conservative commentators including Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly have both suggested that the U.S. went to war with Iran at the request of Israel and that President Trump’s recent effort to back out of the conflict is less than ideal for Israeli government.

“I definitely think you have seen this very discreet, extremely well-funded campaign to try to derail the negotiation and try to derail the deal,” the vice president told Rogan.

During their discussion, Vance referenced an article in Time that claimed former Trump campaign manager, Brad Parscale, received $45 million to ensure the U.S. was all in on the war.

Parscale was paid to create an online campaign for Israel and produce 100 original pieces of content each month aimed to prevent young conservatives from turning against Israel, according to reporting from Time.

“When I open up the pages of Time magazine, and I see that there’s a literal foreign influence campaign being funded to tank the very deal that I was pursuing, and many of the people who were receiving that money were actually attacking me in completely dishonest ways,” Vance, a former Marine and Senator who strongly opposed foreign forever wars, said.

“You know, my response to that is, well, go to hell. I’m going to do what I have to do for the American people. I represent Americans first, and that’s the way that I’ve tried to do this job,” he added.

Parscale has denied being paid to influence public perception on the war, noting “there isn’t a single shred of evidence that I acted against the Administration” in a post online.

However, Vance said such efforts to undermine and influence American politics are expected.

“I should be clear, I don’t actually mind that – let’s say certain elements of the Israeli government want to criticize the deal or have disagreements about the deal. I don’t even mind an effort to try to influence foreign governments to try to influence the United States all the time. You know, Israel does it, other countries do it. It’s just sort of the nature of the beast,” he told Rogan.

“What bothers me is actually when American leadership allows that influence to affect their judgment and to affect what they are advocating for. That’s what really bothers me,” he added.

When asked if Trump would have struck Iran earlier this year without Israeli influence, Vance responded “yes.”

“I think the president, separate from any influence from Israel, believes very strongly, and again I agree with this, that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon,” Vance said.

The Israeli embassy did not respond to requests for comment regarding Parscale’s alleged paid campaign or Vance’s comments about government officials attempting to influence the war.