J.D. Vance, former President Donald Trump’s selection as his vice-presidential running mate ahead of the 2024 presidential election, has made his Israel-friendly views known in several recent interviews and public appearances.
“Our goal in the Middle East should be to allow the Israelis to get to some good place with the Saudi Arabians and other Gulf Arab states. There is no way that we can do that unless the Israelis finish the job with Hamas,” Vance said during a May interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“We have to defeat Hamas as a viable military organization,” Vance said in a sit-down interview with CNN journalist Dana Bash.
Additionally, he’s called for “combining [the successes of] the Abraham Accords approach with the defeat of Hamas,” the terrorist group that led the invasion of Israel’s southern border on Oct. 7, which resulted in the death of approximately 1,200 civilians. “That gets us to a place where Israel and the Sunni nations can play a regional counterweight to Iran,” Vance said, while delivering a lecture on foreign policy before the Quincy Institute, an isolationist think tank, earlier this year.
“I’m supportive of Israel and their war against Hamas,” he said during that appearance, distinguishing his views on Israel from his outlook on the war in Ukraine. He has previously opposed additional U.S. aid toward what he called a “never-ending war in Ukraine.”
Vance, a 39-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Ohio, was announced as Trump’s running mate during the first day of the Republican National Convention, on July 15. Vance grew up in the Rust Belt city of Middletown, Ohio and the Appalachian community of Jackson, Kentucky. Boasting an atypical resume, he is the author of the bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and a Culture in Crisis,” which was adapted into a feature film.
His appointment was met with enthusiasm among political conservatives in the Los Angeles Jewish community.
“This is the most pro-Israel Republican regime ever,” Adam King, a Los Angeles resident and member of the local Jewish community, told the Journal. He dismissed the idea that Vance’s reputation as a foreign policy isolationist—stemming, in part, from Vance’s opposition to U.S. aid for Ukraine—was disqualifying.
“After many failed wars and a … foreign policy that expends our resources and created a lot of enemies, a good healthy break from the world could be valuable for us,” King said.
Dr. Afshine Emrani, a Los Angeles cardiologist who describes himself on social media as a Zionist, reacted to the announcement this way: “And suddenly, the future looks bright again.” Alongside this post, which appeared on X, Emrani shared a photograph of Trump and Vance.
Shortly after the announcement of Vance as Trump’s running mate, the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) released a statement praising the decision. The RJC said Vance was “an incredibly important voice in support of our shared conservative values and principles…Senator Vance will always stand with the Jewish community and with America’s key strategic ally Israel.”
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