A widening rift between Washington and Israel came into sharper view after U.S. Vice President JD Vance accused figures within the Israeli government of trying to manipulate American public opinion and derail the Trump administration’s diplomacy with Iran.
Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience in an episode released on July 15, Vance said Israel was “losing the public opinion battle in the United States.”
He also described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as increasingly unpopular among Americans.
Recent polling points to the same shift. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in March found that 60 percent of U.S. adults viewed Israel unfavorably, up from 53 percent in 2025.
Fifty-nine percent had little or no confidence in Netanyahu on world affairs.
Vance said Israel was more effective than most countries at influencing U.S. politics, although he noted that other governments also seek to shape debate in Washington.
Israel remained a U.S. ally, he said, but relations should be based on shared interests, with cooperation where the two countries’ priorities aligned and open disagreement where they did not.
Turning to Iran, Vance said he was certain that some people inside the Israeli government were trying to move Washington away from negotiations because they wanted the military campaign to continue.
He accused them of seeking to “keep the war going on indefinitely.”
Vance stressed that his criticism did not apply to the Israeli government as a whole, saying he maintained good relations with other Israeli officials.
He linked his accusations to a Time magazine report on a digital campaign led by Brad Parscale’s company, Clock Tower X.
U.S. foreign-agent filings reviewed by the magazine showed that the firm had been hired by advertising agency Havas to work on behalf of Israel, largely targeting younger audiences.
Parscale acknowledged that the campaign sought to prevent young conservatives from turning against Israel.
He denied, however, that it had tried to undermine Trump’s Iran policy or used money from the Israeli contract to pay influencers.
Netanyahu’s office declined to comment to Time.
Vance said people he associated with the campaign had attacked him for carrying out Trump’s negotiating objectives.
His response, he said, was “go to hell,” adding that he would put American interests first.
Vance also speculated that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein may have had connections to elements of Israeli or U.S. intelligence.
