Vice President JD Vance sharply criticized Israeli lawmakers for pushing a West Bank annexation vote during his Jerusalem diplomatic visit. After the interviewer asks him what does he say about the "stunt to say 'Let's go and colonize the West Bank'" he said that this measure deliberately undermined President Donald Trump. "The reason I called it a stunt is because the Israeli government itself didn't want the vote to happen it was actually the opposition to the Israeli government," he said.
The vice president made those comments on the podcast Pod Force One, speaking on his visit to the region last week. He explained that he was sent to the region was monitoring Trump's peace initiative that had successfully "achieved peace in the Middle East he got the 20 hostages home" when Knesset opposition advanced the measure. Vance likened the maneuver to "the equivalent of the Democrats trying to do something to the president to embarrass him," saying he "took offense to it because it's like why embarrass your political opponents while the vice president of the United States has is is in your country it just seemed ridiculous to me."
Vance detailed his emotional journey through the site. While he had previously visited the church before becoming a senator, that earlier trip was merely "15 minutes in between meetings" as a "tourist". This time, he was able to touch the "stone of anointing which is in the gospels Jesus Christ is laid down be after he's crucified after he's killed but before he's placed in the tomb where he ultimately rises from the dead". He became "similarly emotional when I touched... the slab that is placed over the tomb".
The moment he knelt in a small side chapel dedicated to Golgotha (or Calvary)—the location understood to be where the cross was placed—was the most overwhelming. Vance, who noted "I'm not a big crier", recalled: "I started crying there just something I was like completely overcome with emotion and I didn't expect that". He told the interviewer Miranda Devine that he experienced a "moment of just complete silence" where he felt "completely alone and the the emotion of the place come came over me and it was just incredible." The location's "amazing" archaeology, including recent excavation finding "a bunch of historical grape and olive roots" that "confirms this is actually the place where Jesus Christ was crucified and rose from the dead and to just be there it was unbelievable," strengthened his experience.
Franciscans and American priests arranged a "private mass for us" after his tour. Vance invited Americans from the CMCC – the president's peace mission command center – creating a "very full mass in this little chapel." He "got so emotional so many times when I was there," believing for those sharing his faith that "the greatest miracle in human history happened right at that very spot it was unbelievable."
Members of the media raise their hands to ask U.S. Vice President JD Vance questions, in Kiryat Gat, Israel, October 21, 2025. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
He said his vice presidential responsibilities stem from Trump's trust, with the role being "very dependent on the president of the United States" and his accomplishments possible "because the president trusts me and he's empowered me with a lot of responsibilities." Vance praised Trump as someone who "is such a unique person unbelievably people have no idea," noting he "really sleeps less and still has more energy than anybody that I know that's 40 years younger than he is" – "trust me I've seen it from the inside he has unbelievable energy." Trump "has unbelievable instincts" and "automatically understands when somebody is trying to get one over on him," Vance explained.
Trump privately discussed a 2028 "dream ticket" pairing Vance with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, his "best friend in the administration." Vance considers this "premature," maintaining focus on current work with the belief that "if we take care of business the politics will take care of itself."
