JD Vance, with Netanyahu: ‘These Are Days of Destiny’ in Middle East

Vice President JD Vance hailed what he called “days of destiny” in the Middle East as he met Wednesday in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the Gaza ceasefire and the future.

Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance are on a three-day trip to the country. They met and dined with Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, and met separately with Israel’s ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog.

In remarks released by the prime minister’s office, Netanyahu welcomed his guests:

A few days ago we had a historic visit by President Trump that will be etched in the annals of our nation’s history. We’re fortunate today to have a visit by the Vice President, JD Vance.

And I want to tell you a few things about that. First, in the last year we’ve had an unmatched alliance and a partnership with the United States. That is changing the Middle East, and it’s also changing the world.

It creates opportunities not only for security, but for the expansion of peace, which we’re working on very, very diligently. And it’s just unmatched.

I’ve been here a few years. I’ve been through several administrations. I welcome the partnership and the assistance we’ve had. But there’s never been anything like it.

When President Trump said that, it’s a partnership that’s never happened before. Well, that includes a close circle, both on our side and on the American side.

And President Trump knows who he picks for that circle. One of the members, to put it mildly, is the Vice President. And we’ve had the opportunity to make decisions jointly in a very tight-knit and trusting partnership.

And I was impressed. I was impressed with your clarity, with your incisiveness, with your solidarity for our common cause, and just a genuine friendship that I saw both in conference meetings and also in our private meetings. And it’s in that spirit that I very much welcome you to Jerusalem in these days of destiny.

We’re changing the face of the Middle East. And I have to say, I was going to say, bring your family ‘next year in Jerusalem,’ but welcome this year in Jerusalem, our great friend, JD Vance.

Vance replied:

Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, and thanks to your entire team for your hospitality and for having us. As the Prime Minister said, these are days of destiny, and we’re very excited to sit down and work together on the Gaza peace plan.

We have a very, very tough task ahead of us, which is to disarm Hamas but rebuild Gaza to make life better for the people in Gaza, but also to ensure that Hamas is no longer a threat to our friends in Israel. That’s not easy. I think the Prime Minister knows that as well as anybody, but it’s something that we’re committed to in the Trump administration.

And I think we’ve, even in the past 24 hours, had a lot of good conversations with our friends in the Israeli government but also, frankly, with our friends in the Arab world who are stepping up and volunteering to play a very positive role in this. So we’re going to keep working at it.

I didn’t know what to expect, honestly. The President was here a week ago to welcome the hostages home and actually sign a deal. A week into it, there’s a lot of work to do, but I feel very optimistic about where we are.

So thank you for the partnership.

Thanks for your willingness to continue to work on this, and I think we’re going to do great things here. It’s not going to be easy. I know that there are some folks in the media who I think are rooting against this proposal, but I think that we have an opportunity to do something really historic.

So we’re going to keep working at it with all of our friends in the Israeli government. So thank you so much for having us.

The second Trump administration is seeking to pick up where the first left off, with the historic Abraham Accords peace agreement, and build on the recent ceasefire to advance peace and alliances within the region.