On Dec. 2,
2025, U.S. President Donald Trump said, "I think [Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz]
is a grossly incompetent man. I thought that from the day I watched JD destroy
him in the debate. I was saying, who is more incompetent, that man or my man? I
had a man and he had a man; they were both incompetent."
Later, as a new
Senator for the State of Ohio, he refused to quieten down and became an ardent
campaigner for Trump’s brand of conservative, nationalist populism. He was
outspoken against rising immigration, and opposed American military aid to
Ukraine, but this didn’t fire the flames of discontent enough for him, so he
declared his opposition to same-sex marriages and abortion rights, just to turn
the flames into a wildfire. By 2023, he had inspired sufficient division that
you either loved or hated him – but there was no way you could be indifferent.
The second
option, of course, is he could be politically stupid, but with a sound
education from two of America’s top universities and sufficient time debating
on the Senate floor, I feel it wise to dismiss this alternative.
Whichever way
people choose, there is no doubt in the minds of most pundits – this is a
politician who is going places – and as we all know, Trump was to announce him
as his running mate in July 2024 at the Republican National Convention.
Five months
later, J.D. Vance was installed into the second most important job in the
United States and, as you would expect with any firebrand, he courted
controversy. So, most political commentators were not greatly surprised when an
article published by the Jerusalem Post drew widespread attention after
alleging the Vice President of the United States disclosed sensitive Israeli
military plans to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
According to
the report, Israel had finalized a covert military operation—supported by
Mossad and the Israeli Air Force—that envisioned leveraging Kurdish forces to
destabilize Iran’s regime. The plan was reportedly halted at the last moment
after former President Donald Trump intervened and vetoed the operation.
In the
aftermath of the article’s publication, Israeli security sources have accused
officials within the White House of leaking details of the plan. Several of
those sources have singled out Vice-President Vance, alleging the information
was passed on in time for Erdogan to contact Trump and urge him to block the
operation before it could proceed. Most readers will not be surprised to learn Vance's
press secretary, Luke Schroeder, immediately denied the allegation, and suggested
the accusations were "categorically false", though notably Israel has
not withdrawn their accusations.
This is far
from the first time Vance has been in trouble with Israel, or the Jewish
community. In October 2025, Vance criticized a vote by the Israeli parliament
to advance a bill on the proposed annexation of the occupied West Bank, calling
it "a very stupid political stunt."
While waiting
at Ben Gurion airport to return home after an official visit to Israel, he
added: "The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel. The policy of
the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel.
That will continue to be our policy. And if people want to take symbolic votes,
they can do that, but we certainly weren't happy about it."
From this
comment, we can only assume Vance shares the same level of arrogance as his
boss and feels he has the right tell Israel what it can and cannot do, despite
not being either an Israeli citizen, or an elected member of the Knesset.
More recently, Vance’s
position is taking flak in both the Senate and House of Representatives as
conservatives openly criticize his defence of President Trump’s deal with Iran.
With mid-terms just a few months away, he finds himself in the unenviable
position of being at loggerheads with many senators and congressmen and women,
leaving him politically isolated.
When Vance was
asked at a news conference recently about reports many senior Israeli were angry
over the deal, he said: “My message to them would be twofold. No. 1: Donald J.
Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the
nation of Israel at this moment in time,” Vance said. “If I was in the Cabinet
of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that
I have anywhere left in the entire world.”
Vance added
that two-thirds of the weapons Israel has “have been built by American hands
and paid for by American tax dollars …. The problem for Israel is not Donald J
Trump, and anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the president
of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation
that country is in.”
Now there are a
couple of points here needing political dissection. Firstly, it is
fundamentally untrue to suggest Trump is the only head of state sympathetic to
Israel. While Israel remains grateful to US support, there are several international
leaders who support the Jewish state including Friedrich Merz (Germany),
Emmanuel Macron (France), Keir Starmer (UK), and Narendra Modi (India).
Secondly,
pointing out Israel’s reliance on the US for supply of conventional weapons
alongside a suggestion Israel should never condemn Trump, even when US actions may
be detrimental to the country strikes me of bullying – and if Israel and the
world have learned anything in the last 78 years it is how Israel doesn’t welcome
bullies.
Vance's blind spot on antisemitism
While it would
be wrong to accuse Vance of being antisemitic, his comments over the last few
years have, at least, demonstrated a gross insensitivity towards the Jewish
community. In particular, in his efforts
to promote his Right-wing views, he has ignored accusations of antisemitism “exploding”
within the Republican party despite an October, 2025 “Politico” report regarding
a selection of vile antisemitic and pro-Nazi messages from leaked group chats
written by leaders of Young Republican chapters and various state GOP
politicians and staffers; or a May, 2024 report in the New York Times exposing a July 2023 email to Republican supporters
where the Trump campaign employed an image bearing a striking resemblance to a
Nazi-era cartoon of a hook-nosed puppet master manipulating world figures.
He said when
asked about these points: “Do I think that the Republican Party is
substantially more antisemitic than it was 10 or 15 years ago? Absolutely not …
I think it’s kind of slanderous to say that the Republican Party, the
conservative movement, is extremely antisemitic.”
Despite his weak rebuttal, a substantial portfolio is building up against him and leading many to question his attitude towards the Jewish people.
Other insensitivities towards the Jewish community
·
Vance
defended the inclusion of antisemites in the Republican Party at the Turning
Point USA conference in December 2025.
·
On
International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Vance’s 2026 statement commemorating
the Holocaust did not mention Jews, Nazis, antisemitism, or the 6 million Jews
who died in the Holocaust.
·
In
December 2025, Vance absurdly claimed that stopping immigration is the best way
to curb antisemitism in the U.S.
·
October
2025, Vance attempted to minimize the seriousness of a racist and antisemitic
Young Republican (18–40-year-olds) group chat.
·
Vance
defended Trump’s 2024 statement that Jewish Americans who did not vote for
Trump were disloyal, calling Trump’ accusation “reasonable.”
·
Vance
refused to denounce Tucker Carlson in 2024 for praising and airing the views of
a Holocaust revisionist who falsely claimed that the Nazis’ destruction of
European Jewry was not an intentional act of premeditated genocide.
·
In 2022 Vance said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
did “nothing wrong” in appearing at a white nationalist conference organized by
Nick Fuentes (a well-that even some Republican leaders objected to.
Vance's Israel problem
·
Vance
has opposed aid to Israel and promotes policies that are harmful to Israel.
·
Vance
voted against the post-October 7, $14 billion emergency aid package to Israel twice,
on February 13, 2024.
·
After
Republicans defeated it on February 23, he voted against the package again on
April 23, 2024, when it did pass, with most Republicans voting for it.
Other gaffs and political mess-ups
·
Vance
admitted he falsely claimed Haitians were eating pets in Ohio after his
rhetoric inspired violence against that community.
·
In
2024, senior Labour figures in the UK rejected comments by Vance, that the UK
could become the first “truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon”
under the party. This is despite, at that time, Muslim immigration being less
than 5% of the overall population
·
In
March 2025, in an interview, Vance appeared to downplay his earlier comment about
the potential of “20,000 troops from some random country that has not fought a
war in 30 or 40 years” in monitoring any ceasefire. His comments were widely
perceived to be directed towards the UK and France, who have been leading
European efforts to secure a peace deal between Russia and Kyiv.
Liberal
Democrat defence spokeswoman Helen Maguire MP, a former Captain in the Royal
Military Police who served in Iraq argued: “JD Vance is erasing from history
the hundreds of British troops who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan I
saw first-hand how American and British soldiers fought bravely together
shoulder to shoulder. Six of my own regiment, the Royal Military Police, didn’t
return home from Iraq. This is a sinister attempt to deny that reality.” A
Conservative Opposition MP, Mr Obese-Jesty, who also served in Iraq and
Afghanistan cited Vance’s account in his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, of his own
time as a Marine Corps journalist in Iraq, where he said he “was lucky to
escape any real fighting”.
The
MP for Huntingdon went on: “I was part of British forces fighting in highly
kinetic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the latter in response to Article 5
following 9/11 … The disrespect shown by the new US vice-president to the
sacrifices of our service personnel is unacceptable.”
·
This
follows a highly controversial diplomatic row in June 2026, when Vance and
other US officials spoke out regarding the handling of the tragic murder of
Henry Novak. Vance suggested the death happened "the same way a
civilisation dies," which drew a sharp rebuke from Downing Street over
alleged attempts to stir up racial division in the UK.
· On 15th May 2026, Vance was met with a humiliating silence when he tried to transform a memorial event into a political stump speech. Speaking at a memorial service for the Fraternal Order of Police’s National Peace Officers, Vance got a quiet reaction to his raving about the Trump administration’s efforts to end cashless bail. “How about we have a federal government that puts violent criminals in prison, as opposed to letting them out of jail?” Vance said. There was a long, awkward pause, before the quiet members of the audience slowly started clapping.
It’s possible the crowd of law enforcement officers and their families are aware there is no significant documented increase in violent crimes among arrestees out on cashless bail, which allows people suspected of a crime who can’t meet bail to avoid spending time in a cage before they’ve been convicted. Or perhaps the audience weren’t impressed by how Vance used his pulpit to deliver a political speech
Political Comment
With a little over two years to the next presidential
election, we can all look forward to a great deal of political jostling for
both Republican and Democratic nominations for the presidency. You will forgive
me if I ignore the candidates for the Democratic nomination, but now, there are
no significant candidates coming to the fore, but for the sake of democracy, we
can but hope someone will emerge to offer the electorate a decent alternative.
To critics, J.D. Vance has tunnel
vision; his focus is on immigration and to reduce aid to Ukraine and Israel;
issues that at one time would have been a recipe for political ruin. But Vance doesn’t
seem to buy any hyper-partisan strategy. Quite simply, he speaks a style of firebrand
right-wing Trumpism fluently and there are many Americans who love it. In his
mind there can be no compromise - you can try to do Republicans politics and
work with Democrats, or you can choose to say, ‘I’m not going to try to be Mr
Nice Guy, I’m just going to get the job done with or without your support.’
Arguably the main reason why we will eventually see him seek the Republican
nomination for the presidency.
Make no mistake, Vance is a MAGA firebrand who will be a
huge asset to the United States political system because he has the capacity to
mobilise disengaged voters, force neglected issues onto the national agenda and
act as a crucial check on institutional stagnation. Now, I confess, I despise
everything he stands for politically. In my mind, he is Trump 2.0 but with a
brain that, it appears has little care for Israel and its place in the Middle East.
Against this, sometimes a political firebrand can revolutionise a country. Take
the examples of Margaret Thatcher, or Clement Atlee in the United Kingdom – in Thatcher’s
case alone, over a period of ten years, she changed the face of Britain and a
generation later the country changed completely. Was it for the better? Well,
here you come to personal opinion and that is not for this argument.
But there are dangers in giving Vance more power. The US is visibly
a nation divided and Trump has encouraged this political ‘civil war’ to further
his own agenda, and, despite his promise, America isn’t seen internationally as
being great. If Vance has the intellectual and political acumen to reunite the
country and bring the warring factions back to the table, he will effectively
restore trust in the United States. Would a Vance presidency be good for Israel
or Ukraine? Absolutely not and, based on his current performance demonstrates a
naïve lack of Middle East history and politics. Israel is the only democracy in
the Middle East and many Arab countries, even post-Gaza war and starting to
normalise relationships with the Jewish state and, under normal circumstances,
we would expect a US president to play a major part in those negotiations. Add
to this an ongoing war with Iran that has no interest whatsoever in adhering to
Trump’s “Agreement”, so if Vance wants the Republican nomination, he will need
to tread carefully because there are many in the GOP opposed to him and he will
need to do a lot of smooth talking to gain the keys to the White House.
For Israel’s sake, it is my hope that he never becomes the
Republican nomination and instead Mick Huckabee or Marco Rubio stood against
him. Both have sound credentials and either would make excellent presidential
candidates.
But if Vance were to secure the nomination and perhaps the
presidency, political commentators like myself will have much to write about
for the next few years.
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