JD Vance insists on distinguishing criticism of Israel and Jew hatred
JVL Introduction
Is Israel finally getting its comeuppance?
Vice-President JD Vance has caused waves by pointing out the dangers of “always conflating criticism of a particular government with Jew hatred”.
If everything is Jew hatred, he said, then nothing is Jew hatred,
Talking in the context of the Iran deal he said, “I find often the arguments are, ‘Israel doesn’t think this is good, therefore it’s bad,’” claims Vance. “And my reaction is that Israel’s opinions matter, but fundamentally they are separate.”
This article was originally published by Times of Israel on Fri 19 Jun 2026. Read the original here.
Vance: Pro-Israel Americans don’t delineate between US and Israeli interests, conflate criticism of particular government with Jew hatred
As he continues his interview blitz to promote his new book and the deal with Iran, US Vice President JD Vance asserts that pro-Israel American supporters of Israel “make two critical mistakes.”
“On the one hand, is [them] not delineating between America’s interests and Israeli interests, because they’re not always the same, but the second is always conflating criticism of a particular government with Jew hatred, because if everything is Jew hatred, then nothing is Jew hatred,” Vance tells conservative podcaster Allie Beth Stuckey. “I actually think Jew hatred is very bad, which is why I think we have to be very careful about not calling every[thing Jew hatred]. It’s kind of like how progressives for 20 years called everything racist, and if everything’s racism, nothing is racism. We have to be very careful not to, in order to serve a certain foreign policy objective, try to criticize somebody as antisemitic when they’re just not.”
He is then asked, “but the obsession to blame Israel in the GOP seems like a bigger problem than the Israel first crowd, no?”
“I see both, and I think both are bad. I’m probably particularly sensitive to the [second] thing because of the last two days I’ve been defending the president’s decision to [enter] the Iran deal, and I find often the arguments are, ‘Israel doesn’t think this is good, therefore it’s bad,’” claims Vance. “And my reaction is that Israel’s opinions matter, but fundamentally they are separate. But you’re right, there are certainly people who take every frustration with the Trump administration, every policy disagreement becomes because of Israel, and that is absolutely wrong. I think that is one of those things that can bleed into some very dark places.”
He adds:
“I think that it’s upon us as leaders, as public commentators, to just try to be very rational about this, to try to distinguish what is legitimate disagreement from ethnic hatred… I actually think both the Trump administration, but the right generally is in a place of figuring this stuff out. Every debate has excesses on either side, but that’s part of the process of figuring this stuff out together.”
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