Vance: US has ‘some disagreement’ about Israel’s war strategy, but is aligned on objectives

Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

US Vice President JD Vance speaks during a meeting with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (not pictured) at Chevening House in Kent, England, August 8, 2025. (Suzanne Plunkett/Pool via AP)
US Vice President JD Vance speaks during a meeting with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (not pictured) at Chevening House in Kent, England, August 8, 2025. (Suzanne Plunkett/Pool via AP)

US Vice President JD Vance says the Trump administration has “some disagreement” with Israel regarding the latter’s prosecution of the war in Gaza, even though Washington shares Jerusalem’s objectives.

Asked by reporters during a visit to the UK about the Israeli cabinet’s decision to expand its military operations into Gaza City, where roughly 1 million Palestinians are currently sheltering, Vance begins by saying that the administration’s two main goals are ensuring that Hamas cannot continue to attack innocent people and solving the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“There are a lot of common objectives here. There is some disagreement about how exactly to accomplish those common objectives,” Vance says.

“We’re not going to know exactly how to solve a very complicated problem… If it was easy to bring peace to that region of the world, it would have been done already,” the US vice president adds.

Pressed on whether the US agrees with the UK plan to recognize a Palestinian state, Vance indicates that the UK has the right to make its own decision on the matter. However, he reiterates that the US will not be following suit.

“I don’t know what it would mean to recognize a Palestinian state given the lack of a functional government there,” he says.

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