The Biden administration has faced plenty of criticism for its unwavering support for Israel, with many wondering just how deep into another world war it could end up leading us. Israel and Iran are already engaged in back-and-forth missile attacks, and all of the fears so many world leaders expressed about the conflict broadening are very much on the brink of coming to fruition. Now, Donald Trump’s vice presidential nominee, JD Vance, has admitted that America’s and Israel’s interests are not always going to align and that we need to avoid a war with Iran.

Speaking on The Tim Dillon Show, Vance made his position clear. “So obviously, Israel has the right to defend itself. But America’s interest is sometimes going to be distinct.”

“Sometimes we’re going to have overlapping interests and sometimes we’re going to have distinct interests and our interest, I think, very much is in not going to war with Iran. It would be a huge distraction of resources, it would be massively expensive to our country.”

His remarks came in response to a question posed about how the Trump administration would deal with the potential for a major war in the Middle East.

He added that he does not want to see Iran obtain nuclear weapons and that the world should proceed carefully.

“I don’t want Iran to get a nuclear weapon, and I think we should be… using all the influence we have to encourage them to not have a nuclear weapon… But we just have to be smart about it. This is where smart diplomacy really matters.”

He also shared his belief that America should take a more hands-off approach, saying that Israel and Gulf Arab states should serve as a “counterbalance” to Iran instead of letting the U.S. get involved.

“America doesn’t have to constantly police every region of the world. We should empower people to police their own regions of the world. One: We would save a lot of money. Two: We’d save a lot of focus,” he said.

He also pointed out the hypocrisy of the Biden-Harris administration, with Harris talking about how they want to keep Palestinian civilian casualties to a minimum while enacting a policy “that maximizes those casualties.”

He accused them of choosing actions that are extending the war and leading us down a path toward conflict with Iran.

Even Trump himself seems to be pushing back more against Israel’s actions lately, although many people have their doubts about just how much things will change between the U.S. and Israel if he wins the election. After all, he received $100 million in donations from Israeli American billionaire Miriam Adelson and told donors from Israel First that he’ll be on their side in the White House.

Poll shows Americans are worried about rising tensions in the Middle East

Meanwhile, a poll released by the Pew Research Center earlier this month revealed a rise in the percentage of Americans who think Israel is going too far with its military operation in Gaza, with more than three in ten agreeing with this sentiment, while confidence in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his likelihood of handling the situation appropriately remain quite low.

They also found that 44 percent of Americans are worried about the war expanding to involve other countries, while 40 percent are “extremely or very concerned” about American troops getting involved directly in the fighting.

Sources for this article include:

InformationLiberation.com

TimesOfIsrael.com

PewResearch.org