Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance at his Jerusalem office on Wednesday morning, the second day of Vance’s visit to the Jewish state.
Vance and his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, were welcomed by Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, the Prime Minister’s Office stated.
Speaking alongside the vice president, Netanyahu hailed what he called an “unmatched alliance” between Jerusalem and Washington under U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
“A few days ago, we had our historic visit by President Trump that will be etched in the annals of our nation’s history.” Netanyahu said. “We’re fortunate today to have a visit by Vice President JD Vance.
“In the last year, we’ve had an unmatched alliance and partnership with the United States that is changing the Middle East, and it’s also changing the world,” he said."It creates opportunities not only for security, but for the expansion of peace, which we’re working on very very diligently.”
Netanyahu praised the “tight-knit and trusting partnership” with Vance and other top U.S. officials. “I’ve been through several administrations. I welcome the partnership and the assistance we’ve had, but there’s never been anything like that.”
Vance thanked Netanyahu for the country’s hospitality, saying he was “very excited to sit down and work together” on advancing the White House’s peace plan for the Gaza Strip.
“We have a very, very tough task ahead of us, which is to disarm Hamas, but rebuild Gaza to make life better for the people in Gaza, but also to ensure that Hamas is no longer a threat to our friends in Israel,” said Vance.
Vance noted Washington was working closely not only with Israel but also with “friends in the Arab world” who are seeking a “positive role,” declaring: “We have an opportunity to do something really historic.”
Vance touched down at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion International Airport on Tuesday afternoon, against the backdrop of repeated Hamas violations of the Trump administration-brokered ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The vice president was welcomed to the Jewish state by Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin, acting in his capacity of deputy prime minister.
Following his arrival, Vance hosted a working lunch with Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, who had arrived Monday as part of Washington’s efforts to prevent the ceasefire from collapsing.
Vance is “very optimistic” the deal will hold, he told reporters during a press conference in the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Gat on Tuesday.
The vice president, who said as recently as a few days ago that he wasn’t sure if he was going to visit Israel, said his stop there had nothing to do with events of the past 24 hours and had been planned for months.
He said that he “wanted to check in on things” and “see how things were going and put some eyes on it.” Maintaining the Gaza ceasefire will require “constant effort” and supervision, according to Vance.
“Can I say with 100% certainty that it’s going to work? No, but you don’t do difficult things by only doing what’s 100% certain,” he told reporters.
