US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Israel on Tuesday as part of efforts to advance and bolster the Gaza ceasefire, amid reports that Washington is concerned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could collapse the truce and return to war.
Vance, who is traveling with Second Lady Usha Vance, was greeted at Ben Gurion Airport by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Israel’s envoy to the US Yechiel Leiter, and US Ambassador Mike Huckabee.
He then held a working lunch with top White House aide Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, said Vance’s office.
Vance then headed to southern Israel to the Kiryat Gat area headquarters of the emerging US-international task force that will oversee the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire.
Vance was set to hold a press conference at 6 p.m. at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, according to the White House.
On Wednesday, he will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem.
The Trump administration has redoubled its efforts to cement the fragile Gaza peace agreement it helped to broker, after Israel accused Hamas of stalling its handover of hostages’ bodies and deadly violence flared up in the territory over the weekend.
Vance’s arrival comes a day after US special envoy Steve Witkoff and top White House adviser Jared Kushner also arrived for talks about the ceasefire.
The Israel Police mounted a large-scale security operation for Vance that was expected to cause widespread traffic chaos due to road closures ahead of Vance’s arrival in Israel and during his stay.
Officials in Washington fear Netanyahu could end the Gaza ceasefire and return to the war against Hamas, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
There is growing worry in the administration that Netanyahu could actively work against the deal, the report said, citing several unnamed US officials. Vance, Witkoff, and Kushner are planning to pressure Israel not to undermine the accord as they visit the country, it said.
Israeli officials downplayed any tensions.
The Monday meeting between Netanyahu and Witkoff and Kushner was “very good,” a senior official in the Prime Minister’s Office told The Times of Israel on Tuesday.
“It was about things that they agreed on from the very beginning,” said the official. “There was no disagreement there. Everything was really clear between the two parties.”
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The men in the headlines sincerely believe that it is they who control destiny. They are willing to sacrifice other’s lives and indulge in deceit to achieve personal ambitions or gain political honor and prestige. This book is an attempt to set the record straight about the current Middle East “peace process.” In the limited space available, I have endeavored to present the thoughts and intentions of the hearts of men in the headlines—some of whom say, like Neville Chamberlain after his September 1938 meeting with Adolf Hitler in Munich, “There will be peace in our time.” Chamberlain’s “Peace in our time” led to World War II. In the seven years following his naive statement, 49 million lives were lost. This book, therefore, should be taken as a very serious warning to Israel and the West.
Excerpt from Philistine 2 The Great Deception
Ramon Bennett
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