Netanyahu: Israel is not a client state of the US

 Benjamin Netanyahu has denied that Israel is a “client state” of the United States, describing the relationship as an “alliance of partners”.

Standing alongside JD Vance, who is visiting Israel for the first time, the prime minister said that any suggestion that America was calling the shots with regards to the future of Gaza was “hogwash”.

His comments follow rising disquiet in Israel that the US is forcing the country to sit on its hands while Hamas regroups and shows no little sign of being prepared to disarm.

Pressure from the White House forced the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to restrain its response to an attack that killed two of its troops in Gaza on Sunday, as well as to walk back threats to cut off aid in retaliation.

The US vice-president has also insisted that the terror group would not be given a deadline to relinquish its weapons, adding that disarming Hamas would be a “tough task”.

Mr Vance’s visit follows a trip to Israel earlier in the week by Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s key brokers of the ceasefire deal, during which the two men held security briefings with top Israeli intelligence officials. Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, will also visit Israel on Thursday.

It led to accusations from some Israeli commentators that the White House was effectively leading IDF military policy in Gaza.

But speaking on Wednesday, both Mr Vance and Mr Netanyahu sought to portray the relationship as one of equals.

“We have a partnership, an alliance of partners who share common values and common goals,” said Mr Netanyahu. “We can have discussions, we can have disagreements here and there, but on the whole, I have to say that in the past year we’ve had agreement – agreement not only on goals but how to reach them.”

The vice-president, whose visit has been portrayed as an attempt by Mr Trump to ensure Israel sticks to the ceasefire, added: “We don’t want a client state, and that’s not what Israel is. We want a partnership. We want an ally here.”

Mr Vance denied that he had flown to Israel to salvage the deal – insisting the trip had been planned months ago – and expressed “great optimism” that the ceasefire will hold.

But he also warned that implementing Mr Trump’s 20-point peace plan, which includes disarming Hamas, would not be easy.

“We have a very, very tough task ahead of us, which is to disarm Hamas but rebuild Gaza, to make life better for the people of Gaza, but also to ensure that Hamas is no longer a threat to our friends in Israel,” Mr Vance said.

Benjamin Netanyahu also defended the deal after facing criticism from opponents for accepting a ceasefire before Hamas was fully destroyed and the remaining deceased hostages returned.

“We’ve been able to do two things. Put the knife up to Hamas’s throat. That was the military effort guided by Israel,” the Israeli prime minister said, thanking Mr Trump for his diplomatic efforts in the Middle East.

He added: “And the other effort was to isolate Hamas and the Arab and Muslim world, which I think the president did brilliantly with his team. So those two things produced the hostages.”

Mr Vance went on to say that Mr Trump’s peace deal, which led to a ceasefire in Gaza earlier this month, could lead to Israel gaining more allies in the Middle East.

The vice-president said: “I think this Gaza deal is a critical piece of unlocking the Abraham Accords, but what it could allow is an alliance structure in the Middle East that perseveres, that endures, that allows the good people in this region of the world to step up and take ownership of their own backyard.”

Mr Vance said an “international security force” would be established to implement the peace plan and ensure the ceasefire in Gaza is maintained as Israel withdraws.

Several US allies are considering joining the force, but no American troops would be on the ground inside Gaza, instead co-ordinating from the Civil-Military Co-ordination Centre in Kiryat Gat, Israel.