'Hogwash': Netanyahu rejects claims Israel is a US client state, calls it 'partnership'

Netanyahu says US, Israel are partners, not in a 'control' dynamic

Following his meeting with US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected claims that Israel is a client state of the United States, calling the notion “hogwash.”

“I want to put it very clearly,” Times of Israel quoted Netanyahu as saying in response to a question. “One week they say that Israel controls the United States. A week later they say the United States controls Israel. This is hogwash,” he added.

Netanyahu also highlighted the strength and balance of the US-Israel relationship, describing it as a strategic partnership grounded in shared values and common goals.

“We have a partnership, an alliance of partners,” Netanyahu said. “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.”

He added that Israel has taken the lead in its military campaign against Hamas while coordinating with the United States on diplomatic efforts.

“We have succeeded in putting the knife at Hamas’s throat, that was the military effort guided by Israel, and the other effort was to isolate Hamas in the Arab and Muslim world, which I think the [US] president did brilliantly with his team.”

Meanwhile, US VP JD Vance mentioned that the relationship between the two countries is based on partnership rather than hierarchy.

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

Vance further outlined the U.S. vision for the Middle East, emphasizing that regional allies, such as Israel and the Gulf states, should take a leading role.

“The president believes that Israel, with our Gulf Arab allies, can play a very positive leadership role in this region — to where frankly the United States can care less about the Middle East because our allies in the region are stepping up, and taking control and taking ownership of their area of the world,” he said.