US Vice President J.D. Vance has stepped up his political rhetoric against Israeli actors, accusing them of being behind a covert and organized influence campaign that targeted him personally to disrupt President Donald Trump's administration's diplomatic path to end the war with Iran.
In an interview with podcast host Joe Rogan that was monitored by Time magazine, Vance stressed that these external pressures will not change his national positions, clearly telling the parties behind these campaigns: "Go to hell. I will go about what I see as a duty to the American people, I represent the Americans first."
Vance revealed that the magazine's report proved that there was a generously funded influence campaign run by a former Trump campaign official who received funding from within the Israeli government, with the aim of discrediting him and attacking the administration's efforts to reach a memorandum of understanding signed last June to end the war.
The vice president stressed that foreign influence is a real problem when local officials align with it at the expense of independent national decision-making, accusing parties within the Israeli system of seeking to keep the war going indefinitely.
Confidential documents and fears of declining support
Documents filed with the U.S. Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the details of which were published by Time magazine, confirmed that former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale and his company "Clock Tower X" received an Israeli commission and funding to carry out targeted media campaigns.
The campaign directly targeted young conservative Americans belonging to the "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) movement, with the aim of combating the rise of anti-Semitism and curbing the marked decline in support for Israel within American right-wing circles.
Parscale has openly acknowledged trying to maintain this youth support, but has denied targeting the administration's diplomatic efforts with Tehran, while the administration has spotted simultaneous posts by conservative influencers violently attacking the recent memorandum of understanding with Iran.
In June, Vance lashed out at far-right ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government after they attacked the deal, urging them to "wake up" and realize that Trump is the last international leader to view Israel positively.
The Nuclear Negotiations Track and the Epstein Dossier
Vance said that the chances of reaching a sustainable agreement with Iran still exist and are effective, stressing that there is an internal division in Tehran between a pragmatic pro-negotiation current and a hardline current that panicked following the signing of the memorandum of understanding and the continued flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, prompting the militants to attack ships to restore pressure cards.
The vice president explained that Iran's nuclear program was "destroyed" according to the administration's assessments, despite acknowledging that there were ongoing battles that resulted in deaths and the destruction of facilities, noting that Iran still maintains stockpiles of highly enriched uranium in sites that have not been hit by the strikes.
Vance criticized conservative voices calling for "bombing Iran until it is destroyed," arguing that toppling the regime would require a catastrophic ground invasion that historical experiments have proven to have failed.
In a separate context, Vance sparked a wide controversy during the interview after raising the "Jeffrey Epstein" dossier, where the late businessman claimed to have close ties with senior intelligence levels in the United States and Israel, specifically with the "Mossad" apparatus, elements affiliated with the "deep state" and the Israeli center-left current.