Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday that the U.S. must prioritize its own needs and “cannot let our Middle Eastern foreign policy be subservient to the State of Israel,” likening the dynamic to that of NATO during a virtual appearance at the All In Summit.

Vance made the comments in conversation with “All-In Podcast” co-host Jason Calacanis, saying there are “obviously a lot of important relationships, a lot of important partnerships in NATO, but that doesn’t mean that we’re going to completely make our European foreign policy subservient to NATO in the same way that we cannot let our Middle Eastern foreign policy be subservient to the state of Israel.” 

“We’re going to work with people when we work with them,” Vance continued. “We’re going to disagree when we disagree, and we’re going to pursue America’s interests. That’s the only way to have a rational foreign policy.”

The vice president also addressed a question about concerns on the right over the closeness of the U.S.-Israel relationship. 

“Obviously Israel has been an important partner when it comes to military technology, when it comes to intelligence sharing, but also sometimes the United States doesn’t always agree with Israel,” Vance said to Calacanis. “And I think that, more than frankly any president in the last 40 years, he has shown a willingness to actually part ways with [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Bibi Netanyahu when he feels like the interests of the American people are different from the interests of the government of Israel.”

Vance added, “I find it a little ironic, Jason, that you have Democrats criticizing Donald Trump for his relationship with Bibi when Donald Trump is the one president of the last 40 years who’s been willing to say, ‘You know what? Yeah, Bibi’s a good partner, but also Bibi and I have a different opinion on this, or Bibi’s wrong about this, or maybe Bibi’s right about this from the perspective of Israel, but the American people need us to go in a different direction.’”

The vice president responded to a question about the dynamic between himself and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, saying that the “funniest media narrative is that somehow Marco and I are like, hyper competitive, and we sit around like thinking about, you know, how we’re going to run for president against each other in 2028.” 

Vance noted that the two were scheduled to speak immediately after his virtual appearance at the conference. “He’s a great human being. He’s doing a great job too,” Vance said of Rubio.