![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/vance.avif\")
<\/a><\/p>\nU.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives at Ben Gurion airport on October 21, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Vance is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in ongoing efforts to maintain the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. (Nathan Howard – Pool\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWe are one week into President Trump\u2019s historic peace plan in the Middle East, and things are going, frankly, better than I expected that they were,\u201d Vance told reporters. He spoke alongside U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and administration adviser Jared Kushner, who helped broker the deal.<\/p>\n
Vance is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday. The visit marked Vance\u2019s first time in Israel as vice president.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will talk about two things, mainly the security challenges and the diplomatic opportunities we face,\u201d Netanyahu said in a speech to the Knesset Monday about his planned meeting with Vance. \u201cWe will overcome the challenges and seize the opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
During his opening remarks at the new Civilian Military Co-operation Center in southern Israel, Vance also accused the \u201cAmerican media\u201d of having a \u201cdesire to root for failure\u201d when there are lapses in the ceasefire rollout, appearing to reference Israel\u2019s strikes in Gaza on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time that there\u2019s an act of violence, there\u2019s this inclination to say, \u2018Oh, this is the end of the ceasefire,\u2019\u201d said Vance. \u201cIt\u2019s not the end. It is, in fact, exactly how this is going to have to happen when you have people who hate each other, who have been fighting against each other for a very long time. We are doing very well. We are in a very good place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vance added that his presence in Israel had \u201cnothing to do with events in the past 48 hours,\u201d and said he had come to \u201cput some eyes\u201d on the negotiations and report back to President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday morning, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the United States\u2019 allies in the Middle East would \u201cwelcome the opportunity\u201d to \u201cgo into GAZA with a heavy force and \u2018straighten out Hamas\u2019 if Hamas continues to act badly, in violation of their agreement with us.\u201d (The two Israeli soldiers in Gaza were not killed by Hamas, according to Israel and Hamas.)<\/p>\n
\u201cI told these countries, and Israel, \u2018NOT YET!\u2019 There is still hope that Hamas will do what is right. If they do not, an end to Hamas will be FAST, FURIOUS, & BRUTAL!,\u201d Trump\u2019s post continued.<\/p>\n
While all of the 20 living hostages in Gaza were released by Hamas on Oct. 13, the slow pace of the return of the remaining deceased hostages has spurred frustration among Israelis. At least 13 bodies have been returned to Israel thus far, and two more are scheduled to be returned Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n
When asked by a reporter at the press conference Tuesday if the United States would impose a deadline on Hamas for the release of the remaining hostages, Vance urged \u201cpatience.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not going to happen overnight. Some of these hostages are buried under thousands of pounds of rubble. Some of the hostages nobody even knows where they are,\u201d said Vance. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean we shouldn\u2019t work to get them, and that doesn\u2019t mean we don\u2019t have confidence that we will, it\u2019s just a reason to counsel in favor of a little bit of patience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later, when asked by a reporter how much time Hamas has to lay down its weapons before the U.S. military intervenes, Vance declined to set a strict deadline.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that Hamas has to comply with the deal, and if Hamas doesn\u2019t comply with the deal, very bad things are going to happen,\u201d said Vance. \u201cBut I\u2019m not going to do what the President of the United States has thus far refused to do, which is put an explicit deadline on it, because a lot of this stuff is difficult. A lot of this stuff is unpredictable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kushner, the president\u2019s son-in-law, said that there had been \u201csurprisingly strong coordination\u201d between the United Nations and Israel on delivering humanitarian aid into Gaza, and that plans to help rebuild the enclave were underway.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are considerations happening now in the area that the IDF controls, as long as that can be secured, to start the construction as a new Gaza, in order to give the Palestinians living in Gaza a place to go, a place to get jobs, a place to live,\u201d said Kushner.<\/p>\n
Vance, who is scheduled to remain in Israel until Thursday, also emphasized that U.S. troops would not be on the ground in Gaza and that they were working towards establishing an \u201cinternational security force\u201d in the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, I feel very optimistic. Can I say with 100% certainty that it\u2019s going to work? No, but you don\u2019t do difficult things by only doing what\u2019s 100% certain, you do difficult things by trying,\u201d said Vance.<\/p>\n