Netanyahu met with Vance over his criticism of the Israeli government

The U.S. vice president, J.D. Vance, and Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, held a “direct” two-person meeting with each other in Washington on Tuesday night amid their differences; Israeli and U.S. officials said the matter was discussed.

Why it matters: Since the start of the war, Vance has been the most critical figure of Netanyahu among the circle close to Trump. As the war has dragged on, his criticisms of the Israeli prime minister have grown.

As the conflict progressed, Vance took on a bigger role in war policy and talks with Iran. This ultimately led to a U.S.-Iran agreement—a deal in which Vance played the main role in defending it. Netanyahu opposed the agreement, but did not publicly take a stance against it, hoping it would collapse on its own. That happened weeks later.

Tensions between the two continued behind the scenes. Netanyahu was unhappy with Vance’s public criticism of him; the vice president had accused the Israeli prime minister of stirring up opposition to the agreement and lacking sufficient loyalty to President Trump. Netanyahu had also criticized Vance’s role in the war in private circles.

In contrast, Vance believed Netanyahu was using his allies and close people in media outlets supporting Netanyahu in Israel and the United States to launch a media campaign against him and politically weaken him.

The Tuesday meeting at the “Blair House” was an opportunity for the two sides to try to resolve their differences.

Inside the meeting: A senior Israeli official said Netanyahu discussed Vance’s recent criticisms of the Israeli government and Israel’s position among Republicans.

The Israeli official said: “It was a direct and candid conversation.”

A U.S. official also confirmed this characterization and said, “It was direct dialogue.”

The vice president’s office did not comment on the matter, but a second U.S. official said Vance and Netanyahu had a “friendly and constructive dialogue on Middle East issues that matter to both countries.”

The official added: “The vice president and the prime minister agreed to continue looking for opportunities for cooperation between Israel and the United States in areas of shared interests and shared goals.”

He emphasized that the meeting was not confrontational, and that Vance and Netanyahu still have a constructive working relationship.

Quick summary: In March, Vance and Netanyahu had a tense phone call in which Vance noted that several of Netanyahu’s predictions about the war were overly optimistic—especially about the likelihood of a popular uprising that could topple Iran’s government.

Since the April 8 ceasefire, Vance has become the clearest advocate in the U.S. government for diplomacy with Iran, and has repeatedly said that Trump’s goal should be to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, without the United States entering an endless military campaign.

In June, Vance issued a harsh public warning to members of the Israeli government who were attacking the agreement with Iran. He said:

“If I were a member of the Israeli government cabinet, maybe I wouldn’t attack my only powerful ally remaining for me in the whole world.”

Then, in an interview in July on the Joe Rogan podcast, Vance accused some members of the Israeli government of running an influence campaign to steer the United States away from the path of diplomacy and continue the war.

In that same podcast, Vance also claimed that Jeffrey Epstein had connections with “the highest levels of Israeli intelligence.”