US Vice President JD Vance indicated that Washington and Jerusalem are occasionally at odds regarding regional priorities, as the ongoing conflict involving Iran continues to pressure the relationship between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The diplomatic friction was highlighted during a conversation with CBS News.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu, look, he governs a country that has obviously been a very close partner of the United States. But, even when we've been close partners, sometimes we have interests that are perfectly aligned and sometimes we have interests that are misaligned," Vance told Robert Costa in an interview airing this week on "CBS Sunday Morning" and of which excerpts were released on Wednesday.
The Vice President characterized the Israeli premier as a leader who resolutely champions his own country's agenda, but underscored that Trump remains unyielding in prioritizing American goals.
"Sometimes that means we're on the same page and sometimes it means that we're not," Vance said, adding that "where that diverges, we, unfortunately for the Israelis, have to choose the side of the American people, which we always do."
When questioned about whether the Israeli leader had committed missteps in his approach toward the United States regarding the Iranian conflict, the Vice President agreed that Netanyahu’s record was not flawless.
"He's certainly gotten some things wrong," stated Vance, who chose not to elaborate on specific errors, noting that such discussions "are better left in private."
"But what I would say is that he's been a good partner," Vance said. "We're gonna keep on working together. But where interests diverge, the United States is gonna pursue the best interests of our nation, and that's how it's gonna be."
The comments follow several weeks of public statements by Trump, who has stressed that Netanyahu must recognize the president's determination to independently steer the diplomatic negotiations with Tehran.
In excerpts from the same interview published on Tuesday, Vance revealed that the United States is bordering on a comprehensive agreement designed to neutralize Iran's atomic ambitions "for the long term," though he cautioned that the exact breakthrough could materialize as early as next week or potentially take several months.
"Right now, I feel that we are in a position to get a deal that is good for the United States economically and that really does deal with the Iranian nuclear program, not just now, not just while Donald Trump is president, but for the long term, to where my kids can say when they're adults, 'Iran is not going to have a nuclear weapon,'" Vance said.
"That's the goal of the policy. And I think we're very close to achieving that goal. But we still got some wood to chop. We're going to keep doing it," he added.
Vance’s comments echo ones he made to Fox News on Monday night, where he emphasized that despite a deep alignment of interests between the United States and Israel, the Trump administration's strategy toward Tehran will ultimately prioritize American national interests over external preferences.
"The Israelis and the United States, we have a lot of shared interests. But we also have some situations where our interests diverge, and I think where the president has been very clear here is that while Israel obviously has some objectives that it has, the United States' main objective in Iran is to ensure that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon," Vance said.
"Over the last year and a half, we've created the space necessary where the president believes - and I think he's right - that we can get a long-term settlement to Iran's nuclear issue," Vance stated.
"Now, Israel may like that, they may not like that, but fundamentally, we think this is in the best interest of the United States of America," he said, adding that Washington will continue pursuing that goal because "that's what the president of the United States was elected to do."