In Jerusalem, Vance and Netanyahu reject idea that Israel is a ‘vassal state’ of the US
The US vice president said he was not visiting Israel to ‘monitor a toddler’
Vice President JD Vance meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem on October 22, 2025. Photo by Nathan HOWARD / POOL / AFP
(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday dismissed claims that Israel is a protectorate of the United States, as U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance visited the country to monitor the fragile ceasefire with Hamas.
“One week they say that Israel controls the United States. A week later, they say the United States controls Israel. This is hogwash,” said Netanyahu beside Vance in Jerusalem. “We have a partnership, an alliance of partners who share common values, common goals.”
Vance arrived in Israel Tuesday amid reports that the White House was concerned that Netanyahu would seek to resume the war in Gaza, also rejected the idea that the United States wanted Israel to become a “vassal state.”
He said the goal was to be in “partnership” with Israel in preserving the ceasefire, which he said his visit was part of an effort to monitor.
“This thing takes monitoring, and it’s going to take a lot of work,” Vance said. “It’s not about monitoring in the sense of, you know, you monitor a toddler. It’s about monitoring in the sense that there’s a lot of work, a lot of good people who are doing that work, and it’s important for the principles of the administration to keep on ensuring that our people are doing what we need them to do.”
As the ceasefire deal progresses following the release of the remaining 20 living hostages in Gaza, Vance said he hoped the deal could serve as an “opportunity to build on the Abraham Accords,” a set of deals that established diplomatic ties between Israel and several Arab nations during the first Trump administration.
The leaders also discussed future governance in Gaza, which is supposed to be negotiated following the first phase of the ceasefire deal, the release of hostages and prisoners and the retraction of Israeli troops from some parts of Gaza. Netanyahu said he had “very strong opinions” about the prospect of Turkish involvement in Gaza as part of a proposed international security force, but he said Israel would be “flexible to accommodate” American interests in the region.
“A strong Israel serves America’s interest in stabilizing this very unstable region, and you can’t stabilize it without a strong Israel,” said Netanyahu. “So we make the decisions for the security of Israel, but we make common decisions for the region, which I think can service both, and that’s what we discussed today.”
