Vance says he will stay out of Israeli election despite Trump’s endorsement

JP Vance, Vice President of the US, has refused to support the election of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is seeking re-election from, demonstrating a distancing from US President Donald Trump, who has publicly stood behind the Israelis Prime Minister ahead of next week’s parliamentary election.

“I endorse American candidates, and that’s where I’m focused on the midterms,” Vance said Monday in an interview with journalist Mark Halperin. “So, I’m not getting involved in Israeli elections,” The Associated Press reported.

Vance later stressed that he was neither opposing nor supporting Netanyahu. “I’m not anti-endorsing him. I’m not pro-endorsing him, I’m not getting involved in Israeli politics,” he said.

Trump had endorsed Netanyahu on Sunday as “Great Warrior Prime Minister” and applauded his work to confront Iran. Trump’s endorsement was a clear public display of support for a leader under intense political pressure at home.

Israel’s Oct. 27 election will be the country’s first national election since the attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023 and the wars that followed it in the region. Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right Likud Party is in a tight race with polls indicating there is no obvious route to a majority in the legislature.

Vance’s move to Barstool comes even as he was involved in Hungary’s election campaign on behalf of the then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party, which lost the election.

These contradictory stances draw a contrast between the new US president’s and vice president’s approaches to foreign political campaigns at a time when there is an expanding discussion about Washington’s interactions with Israel.