Vance Declines to Endorse Netanyahu, a Day After Trump Backed Him

Vice President JD Vance declined on Monday to endorse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for reelection, a day after President Donald Trump gave Netanyahu his complete and total endorsement ahead of Israel's vote on October 27.

"I endorse American candidates, and that's where I'm focused on is the midterms," Vance said in an interview with journalist Mark Halperin on 2WAY, aboard Air Force Two. "I'm not getting involved in Israeli elections."

Asked again about Netanyahu, he added: "I'm not anti-endorsing him. I'm not pro-endorsing him. I'm not getting involved in Israeli elections." Vance was traveling on Monday to campaign for Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley of North Carolina, and he said Trump himself hardly needs help on this one. "The president has the most influential endorsement in American or international political history," he said.

A different line from Trump

Trump had held off for months. Earlier this month he told Time magazine he was not involved in Israeli politics anymore. On Sunday, October 18, he changed course in a post on Truth Social, calling Netanyahu a great warrior prime minister and an even greater partner for peace in combatting the Islamic Republic of Iran, and giving him his complete and total endorsement. Netanyahu thanked him and wrote: "Together we will complete the mission!"

Israelis vote on October 27 in the first national election since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. Opinion polls suggest Netanyahu's religious-nationalist coalition could lose its governing majority, although the opposition may also struggle to form a government, Reuters reported.

Why the refusal stands out

Vance has not always stayed out of foreign elections. In April he traveled to Budapest and publicly endorsed then Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Hungary's election, five days before the vote, saying he was there to help him in that campaign. Orban lost. Last year Vance also met Alice Weidel, the leader of Germany's far-right AfD party, during the Munich Security Conference.

His line on Israel has differed from Trump's before. The Wall Street Journal reported that Vance has accused elements of the Israeli government of running a campaign to shape American public opinion about the war with Iran and undermine talks to end that conflict, and that he has said Israel is an ally no more important than other American allies. Some Republicans who see the bond with Israel as a special one have criticized those positions.

A second Washington visitor in Israel

The split came on a busy day. Axios reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met Netanyahu during an unannounced visit to Israel on Monday, and CNN reported that Hegseth also met Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday evening. Reuters said it could not independently confirm the meeting. The Pentagon declined to comment, and Israel's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported.

For now, the public record is simple. The president is in, loudly, for Netanyahu. His vice president is staying out, eight days before Israel votes and two weeks before American voters decide the November 3 midterms.