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Vice President JD Vance has privately accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being “wrong about everything” regarding the Iran war, according to reports, as disagreements over the conflict reveal tensions within the Trump administration and raise questions about Vance’s potential presidential ambitions in 2028.
The clash, reported by Axios on Nov. 4, comes after Republicans lost control of both houses of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections and Vance publicly blamed the party’s defeat on the war, while urging President Donald Trump to seek a negotiated settlement rather than further military strikes.
“The reason we lost was the war,” Vance wrote on X on Wednesday.
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“A slight hostility between Vance and Netanyahu is good for Vance,” Natan Sachs, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital.
“This allows him to take a certain distance from the Trump administration, which has just suffered a huge electoral setback, but also to position himself (…) in a very different position from that of President Trump himself, without attacking Trump.”
Vice President JD Vance speaks on the phone as he walks toward the West Wing of the White House March 6, 2026, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
Vance also led a faction of senior administration officials urging Trump to negotiate an end to the conflict, warning that the unpopular war could cost Republicans control of Congress, according to reports.
Netanyahu had urged Trump to resume strikes against Iran before the midterm elections, but Trump resisted after supporting Netanyahu’s re-election in Israel.
Sachs said Vance’s main concern appeared to be the prospect of an overthrow of the Iranian government after Netanyahu presented Trump with a regime change plan.
“Many opposition leaders in Israel, however, are very skeptical of the idea that you can bring about regime change through an air campaign,” Sachs said, adding that such a campaign could have the opposite effect.
“You can strengthen the diet.”
As previously reported by Fox News Digital, Vance also refused to support Netanyahu’s re-election campaign and criticized Israeli government officials who opposed Trump’s efforts to end the war in Iran.
Israeli elections have further complicated relations, Sachs said, leaving Netanyahu’s political future uncertain and raising the possibility that Vance will have to work with another Israeli leader.
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President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his Mar-a-Lago estate December 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
“If Netanyahu is not Israel’s leader, Vance will find himself with another decision to make. Does he continue with a confrontational line with a new Israeli leadership, or does he say, ‘Well, it was all Netanyahu; now we can see a different path forward?'” Sachs said.
“Netanyahu is a very easy target here, both because there are real differences of opinion and Netanyahu’s role was important, but also because this way he can criticize the war, criticize Netanyahu and not say bad words about Trump.”
According to the AP Voter Poll, about six in 10 voters said U.S. military action against Iran was a bad decision.
“I think what’s remarkable here is that this is coming out now,” Sachs said. “And that’s part of the fact that around midnight on Wednesday, the next presidential campaign in the United States began, and JD Vance is trying to position himself.
“He breaks with President Trump’s policies, even if he does so by criticizing Netanyahu, never Trump.”
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Vice President JD Vance before a meeting between the United States, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar at the Burgenstock luxury resort overlooking Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, June 21, 2026. (Fabrice Cofrini/Keystone via AP)
Nonetheless, Vance played a leading role in efforts to end the conflict with Iran, including speaking directly to senior Iranian officials.
Last month, he sent a letter through Qatari intermediaries to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, proposing the resumption of peace negotiations.
According to Axios, the letter indicates that any negotiations aimed at preventing further US military strikes must focus on Iran’s nuclear program. A US official said Trump supported the move. Rezaei later confirmed receiving the letter but said he had not responded.
“I suspect that JD Vance was acting on behalf of Trump in this matter,” Sachs said.
“Trump, after the war was settled after a few weeks, appointed Vice President Vance to try to negotiate the exit strategy, and Vance is very keen on that.”
Sachs also cited Vance’s involvement in a previous memorandum of understanding with Iran as further evidence of his preference for diplomacy.
“He agreed to the memorandum of understanding, which became quite notorious in the United States, giving a lot to the Iranians, much more than the administration now considers reasonable.
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Vice President JD Vance speaks during a campaign rally at Griffiss International Airport on November 2, 2026 in Rome, NY (Tom Brenner/Pool Photo via AP)
“Vance has certainly been on the side of efforts to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough.”
The White House is now considering whether to resume major strikes against Iran, maintain economic and naval pressure, or seek a negotiated settlement.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that Tehran had submitted a formal nuclear proposal to the United States through Qatar, conditioning continued negotiations on Washington meeting its seven demands.
“The real question is whether the Americans and Iranians can reach some sort of agreement on the fundamentals, starting with freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and a cessation of hostilities,” Sachs said.
For Vance, the conflict represents a political balancing act of distancing himself from a war he reportedly opposed while serving as vice president in the administration that launched it.
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“It would appear that he was against the war, but of course he is vice president in the administration that went to war,” Sachs said, describing it as “a very difficult balancing act for him electorally.”
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