Vance also directly rejected the idea of external control over the president, affirming, “So when people say that Israel is somehow manipulating or controlling the president of the United States, they are not controlling this president of the United States, which is one of the reasons why we have been able to have some of the success we have had in the Middle East.”
Vance reinforced his assertion of the president’s autonomy by referring to the negotiations surrounding the Gaza agreement.
Vance was referring to a question as to Israel‘s alleged influence over US President Donald Trump‘s foreign policy.
„I’m a Christian man, and I’m just confused why there’s this notion that we might owe Israel something or that they are our greatest ally or that we have to support this multi-hundred-billion dollar foreign aid package to Israel to cover this – to quote Charlie Kirk – ethnic cleansing in Gaza,“ the student asked.
(December 9, 2023)
„The people of Gaza deserve a better future, but that better future cannot begin until Hamas is eliminated,“ Rubio told reporters next to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
„You can count on our unwavering support and commitment to see [it] come to fruition.“
(September 11, 2025)
In fact, Trump and top aides have come to question whether Netanyahu, who authorized the strike and has threatened more, was trying to sabotage the talks, according to the person close to Trump’s team.
“Every time they’re making progress, it seems like he bombs someone,” the person said. “That’s why the president and his aides are so frustrated with Netanyahu.”
Adam Clements, a former US official, has said that the Trump administration’s role in the strikes appears “confusing” thus far.
“If the US had knowledge [of the attack], then the US would want to evacuate or at least have shelter-in-place for some diplomats and US service members who are in Qatar,” Clements told Al Jazeera.
“I am wondering who is in control here,” he added. “Is the United States telling Israel what it needs to do, or is it the other way around? And I think that’s one consideration as these situations develop.”
(today)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has backed away from putting West Bank annexation on the government’s agenda after the United Arab Emirates warned that any such move would cross a “red line” and threaten the Abraham Accords.
The meeting, scheduled for Thursday, will instead address the deteriorating security situation in the territory as international attention turns toward possible recognition of a Palestinian state at the upcoming UN General Assembly.
(September 3, 2025)
Senior Emirati officials warned top Trump administration officials against Israeli moves to apply sovereignty over parts of the West Bank, a source familiar with the details of the discussions told The Jerusalem Post.
„This would destroy the Abraham Accords,“ the Emirati officials warned, adding: „Do not allow Israel to annex parts of the West Bank.“
(September 2, 2025)
„There was a time where you couldn‘t speak bad, if you wanted to be a politician, you couldn‘t speak badly. But today, you have, you know, AOC plus three, and you have all these lunatics, and they‘ve really, they‘ve changed it. You‘re too young to know this, but if you go back 15 years, probably that‘s when it started… Israel was the strongest lobby I‘ve ever seen. They had total control over Congress, and now they don‘t, you know, I‘m a little surprised to see that. And people, they forgot about October 7th. You know, October 7th was a truly horrible day, because I‘ve seen the pictures,“ Trump elaborated.
(September 2, 2025)
In an interview with The Daily Caller, Trump said that because of left-wing U.S. politicians rallying against Israel and the growing unpopularity of its war in Gaza, the country is losing influence.
„Israel, you would understand this very much, Israel was the strongest lobby I’ve ever seen. They had total control over Congress, and now they don’t, you know, I’m a little surprised to see that,“ he said.
The EU has learned the decision to refuse and revoke entry visas for members of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization ahead of their participation in the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.
In light of the existing headquarters agreements between the UN and its host state, we urge for this decision to be reconsidered.
According to Hadash MK Ayman Odeh, “In the end, only Israel and the US, perhaps along with Micronesia, will stand alone on the international stage, trying to defy the will of the majority of the world’s nations. Trump’s decision to prevent the Palestinians from participating in the UN General Assembly is yet another direct attack on the international order. But it doesn’t really change anything: the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination, just like any other people in the world. The whole world knows this and supports this fundamental right, and everyone who believes in justice and peace stands with the Palestinian people, now, more than ever.”
“Trump’s decision to ban Palestinians from the UN summit in New York is a full and direct attack on the UN and the international order. The US is an enemy of the Palestinian cause and is fully supportive of the genocidal settler Israeli government. The rest of the world, the UN, and all peace-loving peoples must resist this attack and stand by the Palestinian people. If it be – the UN conference should be held in Europe”, Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman agreed,
As UN host, Washington is obligated not to block delegates. While activists frequently demand visa bans on controversial leaders, the US rarely enforces such measures.
Exceptions include barring Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir in 2013 over ICC charges and forcing the General Assembly to meet in Geneva in 1988 when Yasser Arafat was refused entry.
RAMALLAH, August 30, 2025 (WAFA) – The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) expressed its deep regret over the US State Department‘s decision to deny the Palestinian delegation visas to participate in the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York next month.
The OIC called on the US government to reconsider this discriminatory decision, which contravenes international law and the Headquarters Agreement it signed, and to fulfill its obligations under this agreement and respect the role of the United Nations as an inclusive platform for all states and their official representatives.
The OIC also called on all parties to the international community, particularly the United Nations, to take urgent action with the relevant US authorities to reverse this decision.
(December 9, 2023)
The State Department said in a statement that Rubio also ordered some new visa applications from Palestinian officials, including those tied to the Palestine Liberation Organization, be denied.
“It is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,” the statement said.
In a Gallup favorability poll on 14 U.S. and global figures released Tuesday, Musk came in with the lowest net favorability rating at -28 points. Benjamin Netanyahu, the far-right prime minister of Israel and champion of the country’s genocidal campaign in Gaza, is slightly less hated at -23 points.
(July 29, 2025)
Fifty-two percent of Americans now view Benjamin Netanyahu unfavorably, his highest unfavorable rating since 1997. His favorable rating stands at 29%, while 19% of U.S. adults have no opinion of him.
Until December 2023, Americans viewed Netanyahu more positively than negatively, except in 1997, when he was less well known. In the December 2023 poll, Netanyahu’s unfavorable rating far outpaced his 33% favorable rating, with the current poll showing a continued deterioration in his image.
The State Department has begun firing more than 1,300 people as part of a dramatic overhaul of the agency, according to a State Department official.
The firings will affect 1,107 civil service and 246 foreign service officers, an internal notice seen by CNN said. It comes as the State Department implements a drastic reorganization as part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to shrink the federal government.
Amos Hochstein, who was a senior official focused on the Middle East during the Biden administration, described a pattern of Israeli leaders presenting headstrong views on security and using the U.S. as a scapegoat to rein them in with hawkish security officials and hard-line political partners.
“I’ll say something a bit controversial, but in my mind, since Ronald Reagan, Israel doesn’t have a stop button,” Hochstein said on the “Unholy: Two Jews on the News” podcast June 19.
“Every prime minister, right-wing, left-wing centrist goes to his, whoever it is at the time, the military, the intelligence, his, you know, extremist parties and says, ‘I’m with you, but these darn Americans are forcing me to stop.’ And they’re like, all right, fine, we’ll stop and we’ll do a deal. And that’s been the case in every operation since the 1980s.”
(December 9, 2023)
In a post on X, Araghchi said Netanyahu was „a con man who has duped successive US Presidents into fighting his own wars for almost three decades. By all indications, the purpose of Netanyahu‘s criminal attack on Iran – killing hundreds of innocent civilians, including women and children – is to scuttle a DEAL between Iran and the US, which we were on the right path to achieve.
Araghchi also accused Netanyahu of „playing“ President Donald Trump and American taxpayers „for absolute fools“. He said if Trump was serious about diplomacy, it would take „one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu“. He also warned that an absence of a negotiated solution would have untold consequences for regional security and the global economy and get the US „mired in the Mother of Forever Wars“.
The moves come amid deepening tensions between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, particularly over a potential Israeli strike on Iran and the ongoing war in Gaza. Israel has repeatedly opposed Washington’s nuclear negotiations with Tehran and has hinted at launching a solo attack against Iran.
(04.03.2015)
The prime minister has been warning for over 20 years that Tehran is close to achieving its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
(December 9, 2023)
The Trump administration is working on a plan to permanently relocate up to 1 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Libya, five people with knowledge of the effort told NBC News.
The plan is under serious enough consideration that the administration has discussed it with Libya’s leadership, two people with direct knowledge of the plans and a former U.S. official said.
In exchange for the resettling of Palestinians, the administration would potentially release to Libya billions of dollars of funds that the U.S. froze more than a decade ago, those three people said.
The episode has left some senior White House officials questioning the need for a traditional National Security Council and content to leave Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom Trump on Thursday named as Waltz’s interim replacement, in a caretaker role for quite some time, a decision that will likely diminish an institution that has had a powerful role in shaping the foreign policy of modern presidencies. And it sidelines a key figure in the White House with a long track record of favoring military intervention, officials said.
„Als Gegenleistung für ihre Unterstützung und ihr Geld, so sagte mir der Israeli, würden die Vereinigten Staaten der saudischen Führung ein erweitertes Verteidigungsabkommen anbieten, das Saudi-Arabien in ihren nuklearen Schutzschirm einbeziehen würde – für den Fall, dass der Iran, Israels letzter verbliebener Feind, in den Besitz einer Atombombe gelangen sollte. “
(…)
„Der Israeli sagte mir, dass das saudische Paket einen zusätzlichen Anreiz enthält: Die Saudis würden wegschauen, wenn die Israelis Bombenangriffe durchführen, einschließlich der Bombardierung militärischer Ziele im zerrissenen Syrien, und würden Israel Zugang zu einem Flugplatz innerhalb der saudischen Grenzen gewähren. Auf diese Weise könnten israelische Bomben, die zumeist von den Vereinigten Staaten geliefert werden, innerhalb von Minuten, nicht Stunden, auf wichtige iranische Ziele abgefeuert werden.“
(December 16, 2023)
Israeli leaders believed that Hamas was more interested in governing than fighting. By the time the agents discovered the ledgers in 2018, the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was encouraging the government of Qatar to deliver millions of dollars to the Gaza Strip. He gambled that the money would buy stability and peace.
Mr. Levy recalled briefing Mr. Netanyahu personally in 2015 about the Hamas portfolio.
In return for its support and money, the Israeli told me, the Saudi leadership would be offered an expanded defense treaty by the United States that would include Saudi Arabia in its nuclear umbrella—its zone of protection—in case Iran, Israel’s last standing enemy, were to acquire a nuclear bomb.
(…)
There is an added inducement in the Saudi package, the Israeli told me: the Saudis would look the other way as the Israelis conduct bombing raids, including bombing of military targets inside fractured Syria, and would give Israel access to an airfield within Saudi borders. This would bring Israeli bombs, most supplied by the United States, within minutes, and not hours, of key Iranian targets.
(December 18, 2024)
Israel and Saudi Arabia have reached a breakthrough in talks around normalising relations, Haaretz reported on Tuesday, adding that the normalisation could be related to an elusive ceasefire deal that would bring about an end to Israel‘s war on Gaza.
Sources familiar with the negotiations told Haaretz that rather than Israel agreeing to Saudi Arabia‘s demand for the recognition of a Palestinian state, the two sides agreed that Israel would give a vague commitment on a „path towards Palestinian statehood“.
(December 8, 2024)
The Bashar al-Assad regime’s rapid collapse deals a heavy blow to Iran’s “axis of resistance” and its ability to project power in the region, and it raises fears Iran will focus more on developing its nuclear program.
As a result of the Saudi and Israeli positions, “Riyadh and Washington hope a more modest defense pact could be sealed before President Joe Biden leaves the White House in January,” according to the Saudi and western sources.