Netanyahu: Talk of Israel as US client state — hogwash

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US Vice President J.D. Vance on October 22 during his visit to Israel.

After the meeting, Netanyahu dismissed claims that Israel functions as an American client state, describing such suggestions as “hogwash,” Caliber.Az reports citing The Times of Israel.

He said that accusations about control between the two countries were contradictory — “one week they say Israel controls the United States, the next they say the United States controls Israel.

Netanyahu underlined that Israel and the US share “a true partnership based on common values and goals.”

While disagreements may arise, he noted, both sides have demonstrated consistent alignment over the past year “not only on objectives but on the means to achieve them.”

The prime minister also highlighted joint efforts against Hamas, stressing that Israel had “put the knife at Hamas’s throat” through its military campaign, while the United States “brilliantly” led the diplomatic effort to isolate the group in the Arab and Muslim world, he said.

Vice President Vance echoed Netanyahu’s words, stressing that Washington seeks “a partnership, not a vassal or client state.”

“We don’t want a client state, and that’s not what Israel is. We want a partnership. We want an ally here,” Vance emphasised.

He added that the US wants Israel and its Gulf Arab partners to take a stronger leadership role in the region, so that “our allies step up, take ownership, and manage their own area of the world.”

Vance noted that President Trump sees Israel, together with its Gulf Arab partners, as capable of taking on a stronger leadership role in the Middle East — one that would allow the United States to reduce its direct involvement as regional allies assume greater responsibility for their own affairs.

Concluding the meeting, Netanyahu underlined that Israel independently determines its own security policies but works jointly with the United States on regional matters that, in his view, advance the interests of both nations.

By Jeyhun Aghazada