Vance emphasizes US-Israel partnership, rejects notion of Israel as a vassal state

WASHINGTON (TNND) — Vice President JD Vance met with Israeli Prime Minister on Wednesday after arriving in Israel earlier in the week to try and stabilize the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.

Vance said that top Trump administration officials have been visiting Israel to oversee the peace deal between Israel and Hamas, with Vance saying that the ceasefire is not like monitoring 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 principals in the administration to keep on ensuring that our people are doing what we need them to do.”

“We don’t want a vassal state, and that’s not what Israel is,” Vance said. “We don’t want a client state, and that’s not what Israel is. We want a partnership.”

Vance said they are “going to keep working on” persuading Hamas to surrender its arms, saying during a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog that he was optimistic about making “peace stick.”

Netanyahu said during his meeting with Vance that the U.S. and Israel have a “partnership, an alliance of partners who share common values and common goals.”

“We can have discussions, we can have disagreements here and there, but on the whole, I have to say that in the past year we’ve had agreement–agreement not only on goals but how to reach them,” the prime minister said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be traveling to Israel on Thursday to meet with Netanyahu on Friday.

Uncertainty remains over the deployment of an international security force in Gaza and who will govern the territory. Vance said Tuesday officials are brainstorming on the composition of the security force, mentioning Turkey and Indonesia as countries expected to contribute troops.

Britain is also sending a small contingent of military officers to Israel to assist in monitoring the ceasefire.

Since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, the remains of 15 hostages have been returned to Israel. Another 13 still need to be recovered in Gaza and handed over, a key element of the ceasefire agreement.

Editor’s Note: The Associated Press contributed to this story.