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  6.  » ‘Go to hell’: JD Vance accuses Israeli officials of efforts to keep war on Iran raging

The Cradle – July 16, 2026

US Vice President JD Vance on 15 July accused elements within Israel of trying to derail negotiations with Iran and manipulate US public opinion to keep the war going “indefinitely.”

“There are some people within their system, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt, who are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely,” Vance said while speaking on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Wednesday.

“Not toward any objective, but just indefinitely,” he stressed.

Vance said individuals linked to figures in the Israeli government orchestrated a campaign against him personally.

He cited a Time magazine investigation alleging that the Israeli government paid former US President Donald Trump campaign manager and “digital guru” Brad Parscale to run a high-dollar influence operation aimed at US conservatives.

The purpose of the campaign, which included leaks to journalists and social media attacks, was allegedly to sabotage Vance’s effort to reach a deal with Iran to end the war based on Trump’s guidelines.

“When I see there’s a literal foreign influence campaign being funded to take the very deal I was pursuing, and many of the people receiving that money were attacking me in dishonest ways. My response is ‘go to hell,’” he said.

Vance insisted during the interview that the US “will not send 150,000 ground troops to achieve regime change” in Iran.

On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that “President Trump is leaning toward expanding US military operations in Iran,” including escalating airstrikes, sending ground forces to seize Iranian islands near the Strait of Hormuz, and bombing Pickaxe Mountain – a fortified site allegedly involved in Iran’s nuclear program.

The vice president emphasized that the asymmetric threat posed by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz means the conflict can only be resolved through diplomacy.

Iran closed the strait – through which at least 20 percent of global oil exports previously passed – to the US, Israel, and their allies after Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched the unprovoked war on the Islamic Republic in late February.

Vance said, “I am very frustrated with Americans who say that you can’t negotiate with the Iranians,” adding that “you can bomb the Iranians and destroy some of their capabilities, but it’s easy to fire on ships in the strait, and we must be prepared for dialogue.”

The vice president also discussed accusations of antisemitism leveled against him by pro-Israel conservatives in the US. Vance said he had been unfairly accused of antisemitism for calling for a more candid relationship between Washington and Tel Aviv when their interests do not fully align.

“People have come after me saying I’m influenced by Qatar. That I’m influenced by foreign governments, that I take my marching orders from Tucker Carlson. There’s just so much bullshit out there,” Vance said.

During the wide-ranging interview, Vance also commented on the Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein controversy, saying the financier convicted of sex crimes with minors has connections to both US and Israeli intelligence.

He added that “Epstein was connected to circles within what could be described as the Israeli deep state, aligned with the center-left,” while “he was not closely connected to the center-right in Israeli politics,” noting that he had always found this “striking.”

“It wasn’t like he was super connected to the right of center of Israeli politics. America, he was connected across the board. Like he had Republican friends, he had Democratic friends. He had much deeper connections to the Israeli left of center than right of center,” Vance said.

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