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The White House on Thursday (local time) said that US President Donald Trump "certainly agrees" with Vice President JD Vance's assertion that foreign countries, particularly Israel, seek to influence American public opinion, after Vance alleged that certain elements within the Israeli government were attempting to shape US opinion to prolong the conflict with Iran.
Responding to a question during a press briefing on whether Trump agreed with Vance's remarks, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "I think the President would certainly agree that, yes, foreign countries certainly do try to persuade American public opinion. There's no doubt about that. I think it's just a basic fact." Leavitt's comments came a day after Vance, in an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, alleged that "certain elements" within the Israeli government were attempting to influence American public opinion to keep the conflict with Iran going indefinitely. "There are some people within their system, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt, who are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely," Vance said during the interview. "Not toward any objective, but just indefinitely," he added. According to The Wall Street Journal, Vance's remarks underscored growing public differences between Washington and Israel over the handling of the Iran conflict. The report said Vance, who helped negotiate last month's ceasefire with Iran, accused some Israeli officials of working to undermine diplomatic efforts to end the fighting. Referring to reports of an Israeli-backed influence campaign, Vance said he had seen "a literal foreign influence campaign" aimed at derailing the agreement he was pursuing. "When I open up the pages of Time magazine, and I see that there's a literal foreign influence campaign being funded to tank the very deal that I was pursuing, and, oh, by the way, many of the people who were receiving that money were actually attacking me in completely dishonest ways. You know, my response to that is, 'Well, go to hell,'" Vance said. "I'm going to do what I have to do for the American people. I represent Americans first," he added. According to The Wall Street Journal, Israel has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to strengthen support for the war in the United States and improve its global image, including a reported USD 45 million lobbying contract awarded to former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale. The newspaper also reported that Vance referred to a Time magazine article alleging that some of those funds were used to pay online influencers who criticised him. Parscale denied the allegations in a post on social media, stating, "Claims that I attacked the MOU or the Administration are false. There isn't a single shred of evidence that I acted against the Administration." The Wall Street Journal further reported that Vance has adopted a different approach toward Israel than many traditional Republicans, seeking to balance efforts to combat antisemitism while questioning the party's long-standing policy of unwavering support for Israel. (ANI)
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