Vice President JD Vance delivers a White House press briefing – June 18, 2026Vice President JD Vance on Thursday reaffirmed that Israel still has the right to defend itself against Hezbollah, but warned against escalating the conflict, calling for Lebanon’s sovereignty to be “respected by all parties.” “The Israelis, just like everybody else, have to respect this peace process that is fundamentally good for them and good for the entire region,” Vance said.This comes amid an apparent rift between Trump and Netanyahu, with Trump expressing frustration over Israeli attacks in Beirut, Lebanon, and even calling Netanyahu out publicly at times.Trump also recently called Israel out for its attacks in Lebanon, which have almost caused a deal with Iran to collapse, at the G7 Summit in Evian, France.“I didn’t like where two hours before we’re signing the agreement that there was an attack in Lebanon, in Beirut. It wasn’t like in the southern side, and you know, it was in Beirut. I did not like that. I let him know that I didn’t like it, not at all,” Trump told reporters, slamming Netanyahu for bombing apartment buildings with civilians.Lindell TV correspondent Cara Castronuova asked Vance about Trump’s disapproval and whether the US has been in communication with Netanyahu over the disagreement. Vance confirmed that the US is in communication with Israel “pretty much every day” and is asking for “closer coordination” to keep the peace in the Middle East.He further blasted Israel for killing “a lot of people who have nothing to do with Hezbollah” in its attacks on Beirut and launching attacks when the US was “right on the cusp of a major breakthrough” with Iran. “That’s not acceptable,” he said.WATCH:Castronuova: President Trump has been vocal lately about his disapproval for Bibi Netanyahu’s attacks on Lebanon. Has the administration spoken to Bibi Netanyahu directly about the president’s concerns recently and what is the feedback from Israel?Vance: Yeah, so we speak to Bibi or speak to some of the body in the Israeli government, just as we speak to the Gulf Coast Coalition, our regional partners, pretty much every day, at least at some high level of our government. Look, the President has been very clear: he does not withdraw from Israel. No one could withdraw from another country to right of self defense. Israel has the right to defend itself, but fundamentally, the Israelis, just like everybody else, have to respect this peace process that is fundamentally good for them and good for the entire region.What the President has grown frustrated sometimes is that we seem to be right on the cusp of a major breakthrough in the agreement, and then all of a sudden there’s a major explosion that goes off on a civiliation population center in Beirut, and a lot of people who have nothing to do with Hezbollah lose their lives. That’s not acceptable. That’s the sort of thing that we’ve asked for closer coordination, so that we ensure it doesn’t happen, and our message to the Israelis, just as our message to everybody else, is fundamentally, we want this peace process to be good for you. We do not want Hezbollah attacking Israel, but in order to ensure that that happens, we have got to actually build the kind of regional framework that can cut off the money to Hezbollah, cut off Iranian support for Hezbollah, and also ensure that Lebanon’s territorial sovereignty is respected by all parties.!function(r,u,m,b,l,e){r._Rumble=b,r[b]||(r[b]=function(){(r[b]._=r[b]._||[]).push(arguments);if(r[b]._.length==1){l=u.createElement(m),e=u.getElementsByTagName(m)[0],l.async=1,l.src="https://rumble.com/embedJS/u2vbt6g"+(arguments[1].video?'.'+arguments[1].video:'')+"/?url="+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+"&args="+encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify([].slice.apply(arguments))),e.parentNode.insertBefore(l,e)}})}(window, document, "script", "Rumble");Rumble("play", {"video":"v79aqts","div":"rumble_v79aqts"});Vance went on to slam members of Netanyahu’s cabinet for attacking Trump and the memorandum of understanding with Iran.“Over the last three months, two-thirds of the defensive weapons that have protected your homeland have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars,” Vance told The Gateway Pundit.“The problem for Israel is not Donald J. Trump, and anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the President of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in.”MORE:WATCH: In Mic Drop at Press Briefing, Vance Blasts Israeli Officials – “Bibi’s Cabinet Has Come Out and Attacked the Deal – If I Was in the Cabinet I Might Not Be Attacking the Only Powerful Ally That I Have”/*! This file is auto-generated */!function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i