United States Vice President JD Vance has accused some members of Israel\u2019s government of trying to influence US public opinion \u2060to oppose a deal to end the war with Iran.<\/p>\n
In remarks made during an interview with US podcaster Joe Rogan that aired on Wednesday, Vance offered unusually pointed criticism of one of Washington\u2019s closest allies.<\/p>\n
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Vance defended a deal the US reached last month to end the war with Iran, adding, \u201cI know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there have been people within the Israeli government who are \u200ctrying to, like, actually shift us away from that policy because they want to continue the military campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vance, whom many view as a potential future presidential candidate, has previously criticised Israel in what has become a widening public rift between the two countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a literal foreign influence campaign being funded to tank the very deal that I was pursuing,\u201d Vance told Rogan, citing a report published by Time Magazine on Monday, which said a former Trump campaign manager was hired on behalf of Israel to run a digital campaign to influence US views of Israel and the Iran war.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have seen this very discreet, extremely well-funded campaign to try to derail the negotiation and try to derail the deal,\u201d said Vance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some people within their system that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Al Jazeera\u2019s Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington, DC, said the Israeli-linked influence campaign Vance referenced is likely \u201cmeant to influence Trump\u2019s MAGA [Make America Great Again] base\u201d, which is increasingly divided over US policy towards Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat explains why Vance went on the Joe Rogan podcast,\u201d said Culhane. \u201c[Rogan is] one of the most popular podcasters in the country and is very much a key voice in influencing the young men that make up the MAGA base.\u201d<\/p>\n
Influence campaigns \u2018affect political judgement\u2019<\/p>\n
The US vice president also claimed an Israeli-linked influence campaign had targeted him personally over his diplomatic outreach to Iran.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are attacking me viciously for quite literally trying to accomplish the negotiation objective that the president set for the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Vance acknowledged that both allies and adversaries alike seek to influence US policy, and said, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t bother me that Israel tries to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, he said, \u201cWhat does bother me is when those operations, those influence campaigns, actually affect \u2060American political judgement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vance defended the US-Iran interim peace agreement reached last month, which was intended to end the war, but has faced significant opposition in Israel<\/a>.<\/p>\n The agreement appears to have largely unravelled over escalating attacks by the US and Iran<\/a> during the last week.<\/p>\n Asked if he \u200cthought that the US would have engaged in the most recent war with Iran were it not for Israeli influence, Vance said, \u201cYes, yes I do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think the president, separate from any influence from Israel, \u200cbelieves very strongly \u2013 and again, I agree with this \u2013 that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon,\u201d Vance said.<\/p>\n