Vice President J.D. Vance declined to endorse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, a day after President Donald Trump publicly endorsed Netanyahu’s bid for re-election this month.
“I will not participate in the Israeli elections,” Vance said in an interview on Mark Halperin’s show “2WAY Tonight.”
“I’m not against supporting him; I’m not in favor of supporting him,” Vance added.
Trump expressed his views on the election on Sunday, strongly supporting Netanyahu’s re-election bid.
“If Israel gets the wrong leader, and it’s not Bibi, America will have to do the job on its own, and I’m not willing to do that. Bibi Netanyahu has been strong, brave and smart in the face of tremendous opposition, even from Israel itself,” Trump wrote on “The Truth Society.” He added that the article represented his “complete and total endorsement of Bibi Netanyahu.”
Vance said on Monday that Trump has “the most effective support in the history of American or international politics.”
He further defended his refusal to run, saying he supports “American candidates,” adding that as the midterm elections approach, “that’s what I’m focused on.”
Vance traveled to Hungary this year to give a campaign speech for then-prime minister Viktor Orbán, who was voted out of office in April after 16 years.
Vance also reiterated Monday that he has not decided whether to run for president in 2028. But Vance said he thinks Trump would support him if he did.
“I really haven’t decided what I’m going to do in 2028. I’m just not focused,” Vance said. “I think if I ran, the president would support me right away, from the beginning.”