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US Vice President JD Vance addressed concerns about Israel's influence on American foreign policy during a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) event at the University of Mississippi on Wednesday, stating that President Donald Trump is not controlled by Israel and that US policy is driven by American interests.
Trump, Vance, and other members of the administration were in Israel earlier this month to celebrate the release of 20 living hostages held by Hamas. They were also celebrating the ceasefire deal that came two years after Hamas militants stormed into Israel and killed about 1,200 people triggering a genocidal military bombardment of Gaza, causing famine and killing about 70,000 Palestinians.
“I’m a Christian man, and I’m just confused why there’s this notion that we might owe Israel something or that they are our greatest ally or that we have to support this multi-hundred-billion dollar foreign aid package to Israel to cover this — to quote Charlie Kirk — ethnic cleansing in Gaza,” a student asked Vance during the Q&A at the TPUSA event. “I’m just confused why this idea has come around, considering that not only does their religion not agree with ours, but openly supports the prosecution of ours.”
The question drew cheers from the crowd before Vance responded.
Vance emphasized that the US could only secure the recent Gaza ceasefire by applying leverage to Israel, framing the administration's actions as evidence of its independence from Israeli influence. He also acknowledged theological differences between Christians and Jews but stressed shared interests, such as preserving access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
“The president of the United States could only get that peace deal done by actually being willing to apply leverage to the state of Israel,” Vance said. “So when people say that Israel is somehow manipulating or controlling the president of the United States, they are not controlling this president of the United States, which is one of the reasons why we have been able to have some of the success we have had in the Middle East.”
Responding to the second part of the student's question, Vance said there are “significant theological disagreements” between Christians and Jews, but that both sides can work together to preserve religious sites like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
“My attitude is, if we can work with our friends in Israel to make sure Christians have safe access to that site, that’s an obvious area of common interest. I’m fine with that,” Vance said, and then added, “What I’m not okay with is any country coming before the interests of American citizens.”
This exchange reflects a broader trend of rising anti-Israel sentiments within the American right, fueled by American public revulsion at the genocide of Palestinian children in Gaza by the Israel Defense Force in Gaza.
Prominent American conservative and right-wing figures like Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, commentators like Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Dave Smith, Megyn Kelly, Nick Fuentes and deceased TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, who have harshly criticized Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli influence on politicians and administration officials in the U.S. They argue that Israel has become a liability as an ally, pushing the U.S. to fight its "Greater Israel" wars in the Middle East in recent decades entirely at the cost of American blood and trillions in tax dollars.
Many conservatives have also raised concerns about the personal and social cost associated with criticizing Israel. Critics of Netanyahu and Israeli influence on American foreign policy often face accusation of promoting antisemitism, and are de-platformed by big tech and financial institutions which are mostly controlled by Jewish executives.
Vance's comments align with this growing faction within the MAGA movement that views Israel critically, often framing US support as a form of undue influence. Young conservatives have used platforms like TPUSA to question Israel's legitimacy and raise concerns about Jewish control of important American institutions like the banks and media. The vice president’s defense of the US-Israel relationship, while emphasizing American interests, has been interpreted by some as a tacit endorsement of this critical stance on Israel.
The Heritage Foundation’s Kevin Roberts has also echoed this sentiment, suggesting Christians have the right to criticize Israel, further legitimizing such discourse within conservative circles.
Following Carlson's recent interview with Fuentes which has only intensified the debate over Israeli influence, there have been calls by Jewish neoconservatives for Carlson to be de-platformed and 'canceled.' Rumors circulated online Wednesday, that the Heritage Foundation was about to dissociate itself from Carlson who remains a key figure in the MAGA movement.
Roberts released a video message Thursday on X, expressing full support for Carlson. "My loyalty as a Christian and as an American is to Christ first and to America always," he said in the viral video.
"The Heritage Foundation didn't become the intellectual backbone of the conservative movement by canceling our own people or policing the consciences of Christians, and we won't start doing that now, Roberts said. ".....We will always defend truth. We will always defend America, and we will always defend our friends against the slander of bad actors who serve someone else's agenda."
"That includes Tucker Carlson, who remains, and as I have said before, always will be a close friend of the Heritage Foundation," Roberts declared.
"I disagree with and even abhor things that Nick Fuentes says, but canceling him is not the answer either," he said. "...When we disagree with a person's thoughts and opinions, we challenge those ideas in debate, and we have seen success in this approach as we continue to dismantle the vile ideas of the left."