Amid administration fears that Benjamin Netanyahu may undo the U.S.-brokered Gaza truce, Vice President J.D. Vance flies to Israel—just as Jerusalem quietly contends it was misled into a deal that leaves Hamas in control, not the understanding to which Israel agreed.
When U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance landed in Israel on October 21, 2025, the mission was clear: to preserve a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that Washington now sees slipping away. According to a New York Times report, senior administration officials believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be trying to subvert the agreement and prepare the ground for renewed military action.
It marks an extraordinary moment in U.S.–Israel relations. Just a week ago, Washington was touting the truce as a crowning diplomatic achievement of President Donald Trump’s second term—a deal his envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, helped broker after nearly two years of war. Now, the same team is openly accusing Israel’s leader of wavering in his commitment to peace.
Washington’s Vocal Distrust
The tone in Washington has clearly hardened. Officials close to Trump say the President is frustrated by intelligence suggesting Israeli forces are preparing contingency operations in southern Gaza. The White House insists the truce must hold through its first phase—hostage returns, humanitarian access, and preliminary demilitarization—before Israel will be allowed act again.
“The President wants stability, not headlines about fresh airstrikes,” one senior aide said. Vance’s visit, they add, was designed to “keep everyone on script.” Trump has made it clear that Israel and Bibi are on a short leash.
Privately, U.S. officials acknowledge that the ceasefire depends as much on Netanyahu’s political calculus as on Hamas compliance. Inside Israel, skepticism runs deep that Hamas will ever truly disarm or surrender control of Gaza. That tension has created what one observer called “a cold peace held together by exhaustion.”
Why Israel Feels Misled
Israeli leaders argue that Washington’s portrayal of the deal misrepresents what was actually agreed. Netanyahu’s government entered into the truce believing that the return of all hostages—alive or deceased—would precede any reconstruction or expanded aid flows. Instead, humanitarian convoys began rolling into Gaza before all remains were recovered, and Hamas’s internal security forces remain armed.
Israeli Katz, who replaced Yoav Gallant as Defence Minister earlier this year, has voiced frustration that the United States is treating the ceasefire as an end in itself rather than a means to dismantle Hamas. “The agreement’s purpose was to break Hamas’s military grip, not to preserve it,” Katz told reporters in Jerusalem. “Israel will not allow Gaza to rearm under cover of diplomacy.”
Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir shares that view. He has warned that Hamas factions are exploiting the pause to reorganize and smuggle materiel through tunnels under Rafah. The IDF has increased aerial surveillance but is limited in its ability to strike without Washington’s approval.
Those restrictions, Israeli officials say, were not part of the understanding when the deal was reached. They now believe they were misled about how far the Trump administration intended to go in constraining Israeli operations once the guns fell silent.
A Test of Trust
Netanyahu has publicly reaffirmed his support for the agreement but privately maintains that Israel reserves “the right to defend itself against any threat, from any quarter.” The Prime Minister’s allies note that even during the ceasefire, two Israeli soldiers were killed in Rafah when gunmen opened fire from beyond the buffer zone—an attack Israel believes was carried out by a splinter faction, not Hamas itself.
U.S. envoys, including Ambassador Mike Huckabee, have tried to downplay those incidents as “isolated breaches,” urging Israel not to respond militarily. But inside the security cabinet, many see them as proof that Gaza remains a live battlefield.
This widening trust gap now defines the bilateral relationship. The Americans suspect Netanyahu may seek to provoke a confrontation to justify renewed fighting; Israelis suspect Washington is more interested in preserving Trump’s diplomatic narrative than ensuring their security.
Vance’s Mission
During meetings in Jerusalem, Vance pressed Netanyahu, Katz, and Zamir to maintain restraint and commit publicly to the second phase of the Trump Plan, which envisions a gradual demilitarization of Gaza under international supervision. He also met with families of the remaining hostages, promising that the U.S. would “use every lever of influence” to ensure all bodies are returned.
Netanyahu, according to Israeli sources, reiterated that Israel would honor the deal “so long as Hamas honors it” but warned that patience was running out. Katz added pointedly that “Israel’s defense decisions will never be outsourced.”
Vance’s presence in Jerusalem underscores both the importance and fragility of the moment. For the Trump administration, failure of the ceasefire would tarnish what it sees as a landmark success. For Netanyahu, compliance without tangible progress risks domestic revolt and eroded deterrence.
Who Is Right?
Both sides have plausible grievances. From Washington’s standpoint, Netanyahu’s government appears to be dragging its feet—testing limits, probing for excuses to act. From Jerusalem’s perspective, the deal is already tilting against Israel: Hamas remains armed, international monitors are slow to arrive, and the U.S. is micromanaging Israeli security policy.
Each side believes the other is playing politics. The Trump team accuses Netanyahu of thinking in electoral terms; Israelis believe Trump’s envoys are thinking in legacy terms. The result is a truce balanced on mutual suspicion.
A Fragile Partnership, Again Tested
The alliance between Israel and the United States has endured wars, diplomatic clashes, and moments of personal rivalry. Yet rarely has it been so bound up in two leaders’ reputations. Trump wants vindication for his brand of “deal diplomacy”; Netanyahu wants validation that Israel’s security will not be compromised by it.
As Vance departs, the ceasefire formally holds—but only just. Israel’s generals are restless, its government divided, and its American allies impatient. The coming weeks will determine whether the Trump-brokered truce becomes a foundation for lasting quiet or another chapter in the long history of misunderstandings between Jerusalem and Washington.
From the outside, it still like like Trump has just set the stage for Ezekiel 38 and 39 to start, shortly, with Israelis to pay the price.