JD Vance Be Advised: Being Jewish Is Not A Provocation
By: Ron Jager
Israel is fighting a just war for its very survival. On October 7, Israel stood on the brink of annihilation, surrounded by seven military fronts with the Islamic Republic of Iran at the head of the pack. Yet, never in modern warfare, has a nation fought for its survival with such extraordinary restraint and moral discipline against an enemy that deliberately surrounds its military forces within civilian populations, using women, children, and babies as human shields. At the very same time, a relentless campaign of lies and demonization has been waged in the United States to ensure that Israel loses, and Vice President Vance has become one of its leading voices. By spreading lies about Israel, does he really believe that these lies are serving the best interests of the United States?
Even before the ink dried on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Iran and the United States, the Iranians simply couldn’t help themselves and, over the past weeks, have been firing missiles and suicide drones at American military bases and adjacent Arab nations aligned with the United States as well as hitting several ships carrying oil, gas, and cargo attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Yet rather than call out the Iranians and confront their culture of deceit and barbaric behavior clearly and unequivocally, Vice President Vance chose to speak out and criticize Israel, America’s most important ally in the Middle East, by stating that he was baffled by “this whole freakout in Israel,” by telling Israel’s leaders, “You can’t just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have.” He is singling out Israel and inferring that the Jewish State is provoking the Iranians by questioning whether the MOU is sustainable and suggesting that your “appeasement” strategy is doomed to failure. Israel has publicly stated that the MOU will not advance American interests in the region and will not deter the Iranians from continuing to attack America’s allies as the Iranians have proven this past week.
Sadly, Vice President Vance felt the need to double down and continue to expand on Israel’s seemingly “ungrateful behavior.” “Wake up and smell reality,” Vance delivered a blunt message to Israeli officials against criticizing the MOU with Iran. “If I was in the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have” and added, “Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time.” During a Joe Rogan interview, Vance stated that some elements within the Israeli “system” are “beyond a shadow of a doubt manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely.” Vance is very well aware that many, if not all, foreign governments try to influence the United States all the time. Israel does it as well, no different than any of the other nations of the world. Yet by singling out Israel obsessively, JD Vance is holding the Jewish nation to a different and double standard compared to other nations. Instead of blaming Israel, JD Vance should be more concerned that decision makers in the Trump administration, the Department of War, and the State Department are beginning to question his “appeasement” strategy with Iran as reflected in the MOU.
By deflecting legitimate criticism that questions his claim that there is a divide in Iran’s leadership between pragmatists who want to make a deal with the U.S. and hardliners who do not, Vice President Vance has shown that his understanding of the Iranian regime is based on wishful thinking and a level of naivety reminiscent of Neville Chamberlain’s historical appeasement of Nazi Germany. Columnists like Bret Stephens of The New York Times alongside additional conservative political thinkers have explicitly compared JD Vance’s stance to Chamberlain’s 1938 Munich betrayal, where ceding territory to an aggressor was falsely framed as a path to peace. The only logical conclusion that can summarize Vance’s negotiating approach is that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The Iranians are no different than the Nazi government and JD Vance seems to be no different than Neville Chamberlain.
To fully understand the extent that Vice President Vance’s standing among his Republican supporters has tumbled, and the implications for his expected run for the presidency in 2028, look to his recent comment that his job was not to be a “public commentator” but to support the president, which he would continue to do as long as Trump’s decisions remain “legal and ethical,” as they have been to date. One can only understand this statement to be a subtle threat to his boss, President Trump.
Interestingly enough, recent polls show a steep decline in public support for Vice President JD Vance. His net approval rating stands at a historic low of -18%. This drop follows political fallout tied to foreign policy actions, such as the U.S.-Iran conflict, and fading enthusiasm in his home state of Ohio. Key details regarding the drop in support include historic lows: According to CNN, Vance’s net approval dropped 21 points to a -18% rating, making it the weakest performance for a modern sitting U.S. vice president at this stage of his tenure in office. In Ohio, his net favorability rating is underwater and he is 27 points underwater among independent voters. Polling from Navigator Research shows that a majority of Americans disapprove of his performance. As for the 2028 presidential elections, his position as the presumptive frontrunner for the Republican nomination has also slipped. Support for JD Vance has gone down significantly as other GOP figures like Secretary of State Marco Rubio have gained significant momentum.
During the 2016 presidential elections, which Donald Trump won, JD Vance privately compared Trump to Hitler. At the time JD Vance stated he went “back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical a–hole like Nixon… or that he’s America’s Hitler.” Vance also referred to Trump as an “idiot” and a “moral disaster,” and penned op-eds calling him “unfit” for office. He has since reversed himself and described Trump as a successful president and a good leader. JD Vance has explained his earlier views about President Trump by blaming negative media portrayals during the 2016 presidential elections. When asked to explain this shift in perspective, the vice president has stated, “They tricked me about Trump.”
The question that remains unanswered is whether, despite Israel’s substantial contribution and unparalleled military cooperation in America’s war against the Islamic Republic of Iran, JD Vance may have been misled once again, this time about the Jews and the State of Israel.
Ron Jager grew up in the South Bronx of New York, making aliyah in 1980. Ron is a 25-year veteran of the Israel Defense Forces, where he served as a field mental-health officer and as commander of the central psychiatric military clinic for reserve soldiers at Tel-Hashomer. Since retiring from active duty, he has been providing consultancy services to NGOs, implementing psychological trauma and psychological education programs to communities in the North and South of Israel. Ron served as a strategic adviser to the chief foreign envoy of Judea and Samaria. To contact him, e-mail [email protected]. Read more of Ron Jager’s articles at 5TJT.com.
