U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrived in Israel on Tuesday and told reporters that he was confident Hamas was committed to its ceasefire with Israel in Gaza — but that it would be “obliterated” if it failed to disarm.
Vance is seen as the favored candidate of the isolationist wing of the Republican Party, but has long said that the U.S. should maintain a strong alliance with Israel, even in the context of a non-interventionist foreign policy.
He arrived in Israel with Second Lady Usha Vance for a three-day visit, which will include formal meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday.
He appeared at a press conference alongside U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who has been a key negotiator in recent weeks.
The Times of Israel reported:
US Vice President JD Vance says that recovering the 15 remaining deceased hostages in Gaza “is difficult” and “is not going to happen overnight.”
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“Our warning to Hamas; it’s very straightforward,” he says, adding, “The terms of the 20-point plan that [US] President [Donald Trump] put out there is very clear. It’s supported not just by Israel, but by all of our Gulf Arab friends.”
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“We’re talking about how to set up the security and humanitarian apparatus to put all this in place. But right now, where I stand, I feel confident that we’re going to be in a place where this peace lasts, where it’s durable. If Hamas doesn’t cooperate, then as [Trump] has said, Hamas is going to be obliterated,” the US vice president says.
Trump has made similar statements in recent days — stressing that the ceasefire should hold despite Hamas violations in recent days that led to the deaths of two Israeli soldiers, but warning of future consequences.
On Vance’s arrival, Hamas apparently prepared to hand over an additional two dead hostages — which would bring the total to 17 out of 28 — and Netanyahu fired his national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, who had opposed Israel’s invasion of Gaza City. Many credit Hamas’s ultimate compromise to the military pressure on Gaza City; Hanegbi had preferred to seek a deal with Hamas before attacking its final strongholds in Gaza, out of concern for the lives of the hostages and for Israel’s growing disapproval from global public opinion.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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