Berk Kutay Gökmen
18 June 2026•Update: 18 June 2026
US Vice President JD Vance on Thursday criticized Israeli “panic” about the recently signed US-Iranian memorandum of understanding, saying that the use of force cannot solve all national security problems.
“I find this whole freakout in Israel a little bit odd because I think that it comes from a place of mistrust, and I think that America has earned the trust of that region of the world,” Vance told The New York Times.
“We’ve done a very good job by that particular country and that particular government, and I think that the idea that we’ve made a terrible deal is not supported by the facts, but just doesn’t make any sense if you consider the broad length of the relationship.”
He said the “large segments of the Israeli political system and population are very sensitive about this deal,” adding that their “panic” stems for misinformation regarding the deal.
“But you’ve seen people in their system, (National Security Minister) Itamar Ben-Gvir and (Fiance Minister) Bezalel Smotrich, who’ve attacked the deal. And I guess my response to them would be: What is your exact proposal? You’re a country of nine million people. You can’t just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have,” he said.
Saying that the deal will be good for “the entire region and for the world,” including Israel, Vance noted that the agreement has accomplished ending Iran’s “nuclear program.”
“We have destroyed their nuclear program. We have got the Iranians to a point where they’re offering things — again, whether they’ll actually act on them, we’ll see — that would have been the stuff of dreams even six months ago,” said Vance.
“So let us play this negotiation out. Let us see if the Iranian actions actually meet the Iranian words, and give a little bit of credit to the United States of America, which I think has been an incredible partner for the Israeli government for a long time.”
