JD Vance touched down in Israel on Tuesday to prop up the teetering Gaza peace deal brokered by Donald Trump.
The vice president made the trip in part to keep Benjamin Netanyahu committed to the deal, according to CNN, which reports that some Trump officials are worried that the Israeli prime minister could work to undermine it.
A U.S. official dubbed Vance’s assignment “Bibisitting.” Another described it as a “show of force from the highest-ranking person after the president himself” to drive home the administration’s view that the ceasefire needs to “outlast inevitable skirmishes.”
Israel launched airstrikes that killed at least 28 people in Gaza on Sunday, after accusing Hamas of killing two IDF soldiers. Hamas denied carrying out an attack, and both sides have since reaffirmed their commitment to the ceasefire deal.
Vance, 41, struck an optimistic tone Tuesday while speaking to the media at a U.S.-led center in southern Israel, accompanied by Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
“Things are going, frankly, better than I expected,” he said, while claiming that his visit “had nothing to do with the events of the past 48 hours.”
“There are going to be moments where it looks like things aren’t going particularly well, but given that and given the history of conflict, I think that everybody should be proud of where we are today,” he said. “Can I say with 100% certainty that it’s gonna work? No. But you don’t do difficult things by only doing what’s 100% certain.”
Vance declined to give a timeline for Hamas to return all Israeli hostage remains and to lay down its weapons.
“This is going to take a little bit of time,” he said, adding, “I’m not going to do what the president of United States has thus far refused to do, which is put an explicit deadline on it, because a lot of this stuff is difficult.”
However, Vance echoed Trump’s Truth Social warning to Hamas from earlier on Tuesday, when the president threatened a “FAST, FURIOUS, & BRUTAL!” response if the group violates the agreement.
“If Hamas doesn’t comply with the deal, very bad things are going to happen,” Vance said.
His visit to Israel comes a week after Trump traveled to the region to declare, “At long last we have peace in the Middle East.”
Hamas and Israel will be required to make tough concessions—including giving up their respective control in Gaza—as they move on to the second phase of Trump’s 20-point peace plan.
“There is still hope that Hamas will do what is right,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Vance’s office for comment.
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