According to US officials, Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a renewed ceasefire in Southern Lebanon after a flare-up overnight between the two as the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran faces new tests. This is reportedly what led to US talks with Iran in Switzerland being postponed. The post DEVELOPING: Israel and Hezbollah Agree to Renewed Ceasefire After Overnight Strikes as Iran Imposes New Restrictions on Ships in the Strait (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
President Trump signed the U.S.–Iran memorandum at Versailles after Vice President JD Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf reportedly signed it digitally earlier in the week. The agreement, witnessed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, is being framed as a step toward ending hostilities and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. officials say...
Vice President JD Vance’s new book was released this week to reviews from professional critics that did not hold back – with The Wall Street Journal arguing it was filled with “egregious sloppiness.” The amateur critics took it even further, flooding the book’s page on the Barnes & Noble website with one-star reviews.“This book literally reads like the garbage can I'm getting ready to throw it into,” reads a one-star review from a verified reviewer named “Kelly P.,” as reported by Newsweek on Friday. “There's no way JD actually wrote this. I also find it comical that the Pope doesn't even recognize him as a Catholic.”Of the 29 reviews of the book, titled "Communion," 25 rated it with one star, and four rated it with five stars.“JD’s take on faith and religion is at odds with his behavior and speech in his everyday life,” reads another one-star review from verified reviewer “Karen S.” “I don’t recommend this book. Glad to have public libraries so I didn’t have to buy this book to see what he had to say.”And verified reviewer “Evelyn B.” expressed hope that Vance’s book would “end up on a list of far-right propaganda for future generations” as a reminder of what they called the current “embarrassing era of American politics.”“Poorly written unbelievable trash written by the most vile and despised humans on this earth,” they wrote. “His claim to Catholicism is a meager grab at trying to convey worthiness in a world where the denomination has severely rejected him and the Pope himself denounces his fascist agenda.”The online reviews for Vance’s new book have been so negative that at least two online book-selling websites have “limited or suspended” them, including Amazon and Goodreads, according to the Daily Beast.
More than 100 days after US and Israeli bombs began falling on Iran, both sides are claiming victory - a sign of how much each needed a way out.
Although the usual suspects are attacking Donald Trump on the Iran deal, the actual Memorandum of Understanding with Iran ending the current round of hostilities is actually a win for the United States - and a political boon for the president. Perhaps that's why his critics are so quick to criticize it. It's important to keep basic facts in mind:
The US and Iranian delegations both delayed plans to travel to Switzerland for the opening round of negotiations.
Israeli leaders’ statements demanding that “all of Lebanon must burn” have become an unwelcome complication to peace negotiations as a ceasefire between the Israeli militia and Hezbollah begins. Israel and Hezbollah, two parties that did not sign on to the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Israel, exchanged strikes on Friday. Ultranationalist leaders […]
Vice President JD Vance is taking flak from conservatives for criticizing Israeli opposition to President Trump’s deal with Iran. Vance was asked at a news conference Thursday about reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was angry over the deal, which gives several major concessions to Iran. Vance said that he hadn’t heard Netanyahu offer any criticism, but he had words for Israeli Cabinet ministers attacking Trump and the deal. “My message to them would be twofold. No 1: Donald J Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” Vance said. “If I was in the Cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.“Vance added that two-thirds of the weapons that Israel has “have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars.” “The problem for Israel is not Donald J Trump, and anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the president of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in,” Vance said. VIDEO: Vice president Vance in a message to to Israeli cabinet members: “If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have left2/3 of the defensive weapons that have protected your homeland have been built by… https://t.co/asCV1nwUNr pic.twitter.com/DNA42AdgNp— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) June 18, 2026That was enough to set off the MAGA base, including Republicans in Congress.Hard-right Representative Randy Fine, known for his bigotry against Muslims, called Vance’s comments “absolutely inappropriate and frankly disgusting” in an interview on Real America’s Voice Friday morning. “The state of Israel was not created by the United States, it is not funded by the United States except in some small way. It was created in the blood and sweat and tears of the Jewish people arising out of the Holocaust,” the Florida congressman said. “The United States didn’t support Israel in its formation: In fact, there were times when it put arms embargos in place, and JD Vance would be wise to go back and learn his history. I think his comments … were completely out of line.”Fox News host Brian Kilmeade also expressed his dismay at the vice president Friday.“If the cartels were lobbing rockets into Texas from Mexico, we would not allow that, even if Israel asked us to, and I think that I was a little surprised that the vice president was going after Israel yesterday at the podium more than he was going after Iran,” Kilmeade said. NewsNation host Batya Ungar-Sargon said Thursday that “JD Vance is out there criticizing Israel making up fantasies about how it is Israel’s fault and Israel wants Iran to be failed state, and if only Israel would lay down its arms and allow Hezbollah to keep attacking it, there would be peace in the Middle East.“It is disgusting, it is the complete Tucker Carlsonificiation of the vice president of the United States and it is utterly deplorable. The only good thing I can say about it is if this was a dry run for Vance 2028, we sure learned a lot,” Ungar-Sargon said. Vance also told The New York Times earlier Thursday that his response to Israeli opponents of the deal “would be: What is your exact proposal? You’re a country of 9 million people. You can’t just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have.”The backlash to Vance exposes that to conservatives, Israel should have a blank check regardless of U.S. interests. Vance is getting off easy compared to Democrats, who are called antisemites for anything resembling criticism of Israel, as Abby Phillip pointed out on CNN Thursday. Israel has committed genocide in Gaza and continues to kill civilians in Lebanon, trying to prevent any checks on its actions and block any hope of peace. Vance’s words may be self-serving to protect the Trump administration from political fallout over a protracted war with Iran, but his criticism of Israel doesn’t even go far enough, letting it off the hook for its ongoing genocide. Conservatives should realize that Israel trying to dictate U.S. foreign policy is bad for Republicans politically, and bad for America and global peace overall.
The securing of a U.S.-Iran agreement, and its emphasis on the full reopening of the Strait, has offered some reassurance, but significant obstacles remain, analysts tell TIME.