Vance says voters want Israel ties changed and Iran war ended

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said voters who supported Trump in 2024 before switching to the Democrats are demanding a change in relations with Israel and an end to the war with Iran. He said, “The reason we lost is the war,” putting Middle East issues at the center of Republicans’ review of their defeat.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance placed relations with Israel and the war with Iran at the center of his explanation for the Republican Party’s defeat in the midterm elections held on November 3. He revealed that voters who supported Donald Trump in 2024 before backing the Democrats this time listed “changing our relationship with Israel” among four conditions for returning to the Republican camp.

In a lengthy statement on November 4, Vance said a pollster had predicted that Republicans would lose the nationwide congressional vote by 13 points and had asked voters who abandoned the party what might bring them back. The four answers, which accounted for “nearly all the responses,” were ending the war, focusing on the cost of living and inflation, putting America first, and changing relations with Israel.

قائمة فانس بالمطالب الأربعة لناخبي ترامب الذين صوّتوا للديمقراطيين

What does “changing the relationship” with Israel mean?

Vance did not specify what form of change these voters were seeking, but he describes his foreign policy as “realist” and has previously expressed skepticism about the U.S.-Israel relationship, according to JNS. On June 18, he criticized what he called Israel’s “strange panic” over the U.S. memorandum of understanding with Iran. He said at the White House that Trump “is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to Israel at this moment,” according to Reuters.

His remarks came days after Trump announced that the United States would halt Israel’s annual aid of about $4 billion by the end of the year under an understanding with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying: “They have no problem with it. They don’t need us.” The new Congress will include Democrats critical of Israel, including Abdul Sayed, who won a Michigan seat in the Senate.

ترامب وفانس خلال اجتماع «مجلس السلام» الخاص بغزة في واشنطن، فبراير 2026

“We lost because of the war”

Vance was unequivocal about the war with Iran, which began with U.S.-Israeli strikes in February. “The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said that last night,” he said. He challenged those who believe the war was worth the cost to argue publicly that “losing the Senate for the next six years” was an acceptable price. He also defended broadcaster Rachel Campos-Duffy, who was attacked for calling for a diplomatic solution to the conflict, saying her political advice was sound.

Trump acknowledged in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that “Iran was part of that,” but added: “I did the right thing. And I would do it again.” He said that if his name had been on the ballot, “we would have won by a landslide.” Donald Trump Jr., meanwhile, endorsed Vance’s position, saying: “Every word here is 100% true.”

High prices, amnesty and the 2028 race

Vance quoted another pollster as saying the party’s economic messages “were not sharp enough” in the final phase. An AP VoteCast poll showed that about two-thirds of voters were angry or frustrated with the country’s direction, while six in 10 blamed Trump’s policies, including trade wars, for rising prices. Trump had promised that fuel prices would fall quickly once the war ended. Democrats seized control of both the House and the Senate, marking only the fourth time since World War II that one party had flipped both chambers in a midterm election.

Vance warned of “a lot of misinformation” in the coming months and predicted that establishment politicians would propose amnesty for undocumented immigrants as a solution to the party’s crisis. “Anyone promoting amnesty is lying to you,” he said. Vance is considered a potential Republican candidate in the 2028 presidential election.

Images: White House / Wikimedia Commons. Screenshot: X @JDVance

Vance says voters want Israel ties changed and Iran war ended