Vice President JD Vance wrapped up a three-day visit to Israel on Thursday after meeting with Israeli leaders to encourage them to seek a peaceful resolution to end the ongoing conflict with Hamas.
Although Vance voiced optimism about a lasting ceasefire, he criticized Wednesday’s vote by Israel’s Parliament to annex the West Bank as a “stupid political stunt.”
“If it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it,” Vance said, suggesting the vote was largely symbolic. “The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel. The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed. That will continue to be our policy, and if people want to take symbolic votes, they can do that, but we certainly weren’t happy about it.”
As he departed Israel, Vance said both Israel and Hamas are largely abiding by the terms of the ceasefire.
“For all of the difficulties and problems, right now I think we can say with confidence that Israel is respecting the ceasefire. Hamas is respecting the ceasefire,” he said. “There are exceptions — little flare-ups that break out here and there — which would be expected when these two parties have been at war for two years. But so far the cease-fire is holding, and now we’re trying to figure out how to make it last over the long term.”
Vance emphasized that the U.S. would not put troops on the ground in Gaza to maintain peace, but American forces would be used to supervise and mediate the process.
The vice president’s visit underscored the Trump administration’s mission to prevent both sides from breaking the ceasefire. In addition to Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner held high-level meetings with Israeli officials this week.
Officials have acknowledged that advancing to the next phase of the peace process will be challenging. Opening aid to Gaza, establishing a peacekeeping force and the eventual reconstruction of the territory all pose significant hurdles.