'Wake up and smell the reality': JD Vance warns Israeli ministers

Even as most countries welcomed the U.S. signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Iran, several Israeli lawmakers openly expressed their displeasure with President Donald Trump's decision. A major point of contention in Israel is the inclusion of Lebanon in the 14-point agenda. The MOU explicitly mandates the "immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon" and would be binding to the United States, Iran, and their allies. 

President Trump has publicly expressed that he is not in support of the Israeli action against Beirut during a G7 press conference, and a day after the President's statement, his deputy, J.D. Vance, warned Israeli lawmakers critical of Trump's decision that the country was fast losing allies. Speaking to reporters, Vice President Vance addressed criticism against the President in Israel. "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, and he happens to be the head of state," Vance said. "If I were in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world."

Vance also reminded Israel that "over the last 3 months, two-thirds of the defensive weapons that have protected your homeland have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars." "The problem for Israel is not Donald J. Trump, and anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the President of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that the country is in," Vance concluded. 

Trump's decision to negotiate an MoU with the Iranian government has been met with severe criticism in Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu has vowed to remain in Lebanon as long as the goal of making Israel safe from enemies has been met. Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel's opposition, said on Tuesday, "Netanyahu promised us a historic victory – and we got a crisis with the Americans, Hormuz open to the Iranians, money for the Revolutionary Guards, ballistic missiles aimed at Israel, and Israel waiting in the corridor like a scolded child." 

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, meanwhile, said that his country is prepared to strike Iran, even without American aid. "Israel is prepared at any moment for a ‘Blue and White’ operation in Iran," Katz said in an interview with Yaakov Bardugo, C14 reported."We have never asked the United States to fight alongside us in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria—we only want a diplomatic umbrella to protect us," he added.