Vance expresses optimism and preaches patience in Israel as ceasefire worries grow
Vice President JD Vance expressed cautious optimism Tuesday that peace between Israel and Hamas will continue despite recent violence that has threatened the fragile countries. Ceasefire negotiated by the United States.
“What we saw last week gives me great optimism that the ceasefire will continue, and if we move from where we were a week ago to a long-term, sustainable peace between Israel and Gaza, there will be hills and valleys,” Vance said at a news conference to announce the opening of a civil-military cooperation center in southern Israel.
“There will be times when it seems like things aren’t going particularly well,” Vance added. “Can I say with 100 percent certainty that this is going to work? No, but you don’t do hard things by just doing what’s 100 percent sure. You do hard things by trying. And that’s what the President of the United States has asked us to do.”
Vance’s trip to Israel comes at a difficult time. The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas negotiated this month by President Donald Trump was followed by both sides accusing each other of violating the truce, Israeli strikes and a weakened Hamas trying to reassert its authority over the enclave.
Vance accused the American media of overreacting to these setbacks.
“I want to say that there is this strange attitude that I have felt in the American and Western media, where there is almost this desire to entrench oneself in failure – that every time something bad happens, and every time there is an act of violence, there is this tendency to say, ‘Oh, this is the end of the ceasefire, this is the end of the peace plan,'” Vance said. “It’s not the end. In fact, that’s exactly how it’s going to happen when you have people who hate each other, who have been fighting against each other for a very long time. We’re doing very well. We’re in a very good position.”
A lasting ceasefire is key to Trump’s ambitions to win the Nobel Peace Prize, making Vance’s efforts this week to ease tensions and project confidence could have consequences for the legacy of the man he will likely succeed in 2028. Above the news conference was an article by Trump on Truth Social Tuesday morning, which wrote that Middle East allies would “welcome favorably the opportunity, at my request, to enter GAZA with heavy force and “straighten”. [out] Hamas if it continues to act badly, in violation of its agreement with us.”
“There is still hope that Hamas will do what is right,” Trump added. “If they don’t, the end of Hamas will be QUICK, FURRY AND BRUTAL!” »
Asked about the president’s position, Vance reiterated that “very bad things are going to happen” and that Hamas would be “annihilated” if it does not cooperate under the terms of the ceasefire.
“But I’m not going to do what the president of the United States has refused to do so far, which is set an explicit deadline, because a lot of these things are difficult,” Vance said. “What I mean is, I don’t think it’s really advisable for us to say this has to be done in a week, because a lot of this work is very difficult.”
Vance added that he believed Middle Eastern allies, including “our Israeli friends,” were showing “some impatience with Hamas.”
“But we’re going to continue to work on this process,” Vance said, “and we’re going to continue to try to bring the deceased hostages home, but also make sure that everyone in Gaza can live in a prosperous and safe place.”
Vance was joined Tuesday by Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special Middle East envoy, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law. Both played key roles in brokering the ceasefire, while Vance was dispatched to demonstrate the administration’s commitment to it.
“I want to echo what the vice president said about a lot of people getting a little hysterical about the different incursions, one way or another,” Kushner said. “But what we’re seeing is that things are happening in agreement…both sides are transitioning from two years of very intense war to a peacetime situation.”
Vance described his visit in part as a fact-finding mission that will help shed light on the United States’ continuing role in the process rather than as a reaction to the recent violence that has erupted.
“It’s one thing to read about it, it’s one thing to talk on the phone with Jared and Steve about what’s happening on the ground,” the vice president said. “It’s another thing to shake someone’s hand and look them in the eye and understand what the challenges are, what are the things they need from me?
