Vance’s office denies he chided Netanyahu over rampant settler violence

US Vice President JD Vance’s office forcefully denies a Hebrew media report claiming that he had a tense conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent days during which the second most powerful official in the Trump administration berated the Israeli premier over Jerusalem’s failure to crack down on rampant settler violence across the West Bank.

“This story is completely false. The vice president’s discussions over the last week with the prime minister have been solely focused on Operation Epic Fury. The subject of this article was not even discussed,” Vance’s press secretary Taylor Van Kirk tweets.

The Israel Hayom report that she denied was one of several Hebrew media reports in recent days purporting to reveal frustration in Washington at Israel regarding the near-daily, unchecked settler attacks.

It has been months, however, since a Trump official has publicly weighed in on the phenomenon.