Vance Abruptly Cancels Israel Visit As IDF Expands Gaza Operations

More friction between Israel and the United States has come to light Monday as Vice President JD Vance has canceled a planned official trip to Israel due to the expansion of Israel’s military operation in Gaza, according to a senior US official cited in Axios.

The report emphasizes that „The US official said Vance made the decision because he didn’t want his trip to suggest the Trump administration endorsed the Israeli decision to launch a massive operation at a time when the U.S. is pushing for a ceasefire and hostage deal.”

VP Vance in Rome. AFP/Getty Images

Still, Vance sought to downplay this as purely a political pressure move or strong signaling to Israel by saying it comes down to „logistical” issues.

„Logistically, it was just a little bit too hard on basic things like, who the hell is going to take care of our kids if we take another couple of days overseas?” he said Monday in response to a question about the trip. „I’m sure we’ll visit Israel sometime in the future, but not today,” Vance added. The question of childcare or babysitting is certainly an unexpected reason or explanation, or dubious.

Starting Friday the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced an expanded mobilization of troops for operation 'Gideon’s Chariots’. Some two million Palestinians are expected to be forced into a „humanitarian zone” while most of the enclave is destroyed and flattened.

The policy somewhat contradicts Trump’s main messaging during last week’s Gulf tour, wherein he emphasized peace through deal-making, and not 'chaos’ in the war-torn Middle East.

According to a timeline of the Vance trip cancellation issued by Axios:

• Additional discussions took place on Sunday between U.S. and Israeli officials to prepare for Vance’s visit. Reports soon popped up in the Israeli press that Vance might arrive on Tuesday.
• Several hours later, a White House official denied the reports in a statement to reporters traveling with the VP. „While the Secret Service has engaged in contingency planning for the addition of several potential countries, no additional visits were at any point decided upon, and logistical constraints have precluded an extension of his travel beyond Rome. He will return to Washington on Monday.”

In the White House press briefing room Monday morning, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to a question by ZeroHedge by saying President Trump „has made it very clear he wants to see this conflict in the region end.”

The good news I suppose is that the right decison was made not to send Vance as it would have validated Israel’s expanded ground op. The bad news is the Trump Administration isn’t pressing Israel to rethink a campaign Witkoff reportedly described as Israel’s pointless war. https://t.co/hb4IZ4WQk2

— Aaron David Miller (@aarondmiller2) May 19, 2025

„The president is moving as quickly as he possibly can and working overtime to end these conflicts in both Israel and Gaza and also the Russia-Ukraine war,” Leavitt added. „The president made it very clear to Hamas that he wanted to see all hostages released.”

Several reports earlier this month pointed to severely strained ties between Trump and Netanyahu; however, the US president has since sought to downplay this. Yet Vance abruptly canceling his Israel trip certainly points to trouble between Washington and Tel Aviv.