Vice President JD Vance on Monday refused to endorse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a day after President Donald Trump publicly supported Netanyahu as he sought re-election this month.
“I don’t get involved in Israeli elections,” Vance said in an interview on Mark Halperin’s “2WAY Tonight” show.
“I’m not against supporting him, I’m not in favor of supporting him,” Vance added.
Trump weighed in on Sunday’s election, strongly supporting Netanyahu’s re-election bid.
“If Israel has a bad leader, who would be anyone other than Bibi, America will have to do this work itself, and I am not inclined to do it,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Bibi Netanyahu has been strong, courageous and brilliant in the face of enormous opposition, including that even from Israel itself,” he said, adding that the message represents his “complete and total support for Bibi Netanyahu.”
Vance said Monday that Trump has “the most effective support in American or international political history.”
He further defended his refusal to get involved in the race by saying he supports “American candidates,” adding “that’s what I’m focused on” as the midterm elections approach.
Although Vance refused to support Netanyahu, the vice president visited Hungary in April to promote then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was ultimately ousted after 16 years in power.
Vance also reiterated Monday that he hasn’t decided whether he would run for president himself in 2028. But if he did, Vance said, he thinks Trump would support him.
“I really haven’t decided yet what to do in 2028. I just haven’t focused on it,” Vance said. “I think if I run, the president will support me right away, from the start.”
Trump’s support for Netanyahu comes as the Israeli leader faces growing backlash over the U.S. ally’s deadly attack on Gaza and escalating settler violence in the occupied West Bank, where attacks on Palestinian farmers, activists and journalists erupted over the weekend.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that the Trump administration was “very troubled” by images that emerged after American journalist Heidi Levine, a photographer working for the Washington Post, was among those attacked just days before Trump offered his support to Netanyahu.
Netanyahu questioned the attack, calling it “alleged.”
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Monday welcomed the arrest of 10 suspects after what he called a “despicable act of terrorism carried out by masked cowards.” Levine remains in the hospital.
Vance has previously taken a more skeptical stance toward Israel than many others on the right.
In June, he warned Israel against opposing U.S. efforts to negotiate an end to their joint war with Iran.
“Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the world who sympathizes with the nation of Israel right now,” Vance said at the time. “If I were a member of the Israeli government, perhaps I would not attack the only powerful ally I have left in the entire world. »
Polls show a decline in support for Israel among the American public in recent years.
Favorable views of the Israeli government fell from 47% in 2022 to 32% in 2026, according to a May poll by the Pew Research Center.
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