October 21, 2025

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XvNdR0jTz4

U.S. Vice President JD Vance on October 21, 2025, led the official opening of the Civil-Military Cooperation Center (CMCC) in Kiryat Gat, Israel, the hub for U.S. implementation of the Gaza peace plan, with special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and the commander of the U.S. Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper. Trepidation existed that President Donald Trump’s Vision for Middle East Peace, signed eight days earlier at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, was shaky because of Hamas’ delays in returning hostage bodies, Hamas’ killing of Gazans not faithful to its rule and of Israelis in attacks into IDF-controlled territory, and IDF retaliation.

Still, the implementation of the Hamas-Israel peace agreement was proceeding even if haltingly, Vance said during his second-ever visit to Israel. He said ups and downs should be expected when two bitter enemies try to make peace. Amid his optimism about establishing a “durable” peace between Israelis and Palestinians, he did not deny that the unspecified steps and phases to reach and enforce agreements remain a heavy lift for all the parties involved.

He declined to set a deadline for Hamas to disarm or to release the remaining hostage bodies to Israel. Hamas, which reportedly has more than 10,000 men under arms in Gaza, will eventually disarm or be obliterated, Vance said, and the hostage return requires patience because nobody knows where some of the bodies are buried.

The international security force for Gaza is still in the planning stage. While Vance said Israel would have to approve of any foreign troops stationed within the state, he did not rule out a Turkish military role in Gaza despite Israeli concerns over Turkey’s past support for Hamas.

No reconstruction funding will go to areas under Hamas’ control, Kushner said. He also said the United Nations and Israel are cooperating well in delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza. However, news outlets reported that there are money and logistical shortages facing international aid organizations.

Answering a question, Vance said U.S. policy toward Iran has not changed: Trump wants Iran to thrive but will not allow it to have nuclear weapons.

Vance met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the next day; see their post-meeting comments below the Kiryat Gat press conference transcript.

— Michael Jacobs and Ken Stein, October 22, 2025

Note that most reporters’ questions are not exact quotes because they lacked microphones.

Vice President JD Vance: President Trump’s historic peace plan in the Middle East, and things are going frankly better than I expected that they were.

This is a very, very tough situation. You have two peoples, two enemies who have fought a very tough conflict against each other. You have a terrorist organization on one hand that murdered a lot of innocent people. You’ve got an Israeli army that was defending itself, on the other, that has learned a lot over the past couple of years. And then of course you have an innocent civilian population in Gaza that’s caught in the middle.

But here at the Civil-Military Cooperation Center, which we are announcing the opening of, you have Israelis and Americans working hand in hand to try to begin the plan to rebuild Gaza, to implement a long-term peace, and to actually ensure that you have security forces on the ground in Gaza, not composed of Americans, who can keep the peace over the long term.

So we’ve got a lot of work left to do. This is going to take a very, very long time. But I think Steve Whitoff, Jared Kushner and Admiral Cooper behind me have done an incredible job. I want to say just a couple of quick things, and then I want to turn it over to Steve Whitkoff.

No. 1, the Israeli government has been remarkably helpful in this. I want to thank them, thank our Israeli partners and all the folks particularly who are working hand in hand with their American friends here at the CMCC.

And, No. 2, I would say that there is this weird attitude I’ve sensed in the American media, in the Western media, where there’s almost this desire to root for failure. That every time something bad happens, that every time that there’s an act of violence, there’s this inclination to say: “Oh, this is the end of the ceasefire. This is the end of the peace plan.”

It’s not the end. It is, in fact, exactly how this is going to have to happen when you have people who hate each other, who have been fighting against each other for a very long time. We are doing very well. We are in a very good place. We’re going to have to keep working on it. But I think we have the team to do exactly that.

So with all thanks to our partners both in Israel but all across the Gulf Arab states, Indonesia, the Turks, we are doing an amazing thing here. And I’m particularly proud of the American troops working at the command center, who are coordinating this effort and making it possible.

So with that, I want to thank Ambassador Steve Witkoff and turn it over to him to say a few things. And after everybody’s said a few words, we’ll take some questions. Thank you, guys.

Special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff: Well, thank you very much, Mr. Vice President. We’re really proud of what’s happened here. It’s an amazing effort. It’s a great coordination between our partners. We have a great team. Signing this deal up was a challenge in and of itself, but the implementation, that’s where it really is going to be the most important. And I think we are exceeding where we thought we would be at this time.

I think the vice president has come out here. He sees that. The secretary of state will be out here. I can’t tell you what a privilege it is to work with the team that we have, with Jared, who’s extraordinary, the president, of course, and the vice president and Admiral Cooper.

I would also say this: We’re learning so much here. This CMCC that we’re setting up now, this is going to be used in other conflicts as we figure out all the intricacies of how to modulate a peace deal, go from war to peace.

Lastly, in closing, I want to speak about the morning that me and Jared had. We met with 10 hostages and their families, and it was really an emotional moment. And I felt blessed to be in that room. Lots of tears, lots of people really, really grateful to President Trump for getting their children home, and you, of course, Mr. Vice President.

And I want to observe that I didn’t see any victims in that room. I saw strong people who have come out under very difficult circumstances. Their families are reunited, and they are so grateful. And it was just my privilege as an American to be there. Thank you.

Vance: All right, thank you. Jared.

Witkoff: Thank you.

Special presidential envoy Jared Kushner: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Thank you, Steve. First of all, we really appreciate your visit here. It’s given a great boost of energy to everyone here, and your support through this whole effort has been really tremendous.

What you see here today is really the opening of the CMCC. This has been something that’s been envisioned by CENTCOM. Admiral Cooper will speak about that in a bit.

But we always knew that the deal that we were working on would kind of have two phases to it. The first phase was obviously getting the live hostages out. We’re currently making progress on the hostages, the bodies that are still there. I think almost half are out now.

And we’ve had very good meetings with the Israelis. I know the vice president’s here to put a lot of effort into that today to hopefully make sure we can complete that mission in Phase 2.

At the same time, the humanitarian aid, there’s actually been surprisingly strong coordination between the United Nations and Israel, which is something that we’ve been able to help synthesize, get each other to air their concerns and to find out how we can do it better so that the aid reaches the people in Gaza and doesn’t go into the wrong hands there.

Finally, I’ll say that there has already been a lot of efforts over the last years by really concerned people to think about what happens next in Gaza, and there’s a lot of great things happening here. More will be released in the coming days, but the most important thing here is to figure out how you really get a good de-confliction coordination center.

This really has been a startup. There’s been a lot that’s been done. It’s amazing to think it’s only been a week, but, actually, with the pace of work and the commitment of everybody, I think in a week from now you’ll see even more progress.

I want to echo what the vice president said about how a lot of people are getting a little hysterical about different incursions one way or the other. But what we are seeing is that things are going in accordance. Both sides are transitioning from two years of very intense warfare to now a peacetime posture, and really thanks to Admiral Cooper, CENTCOM and the CMCC to try to build that de-confliction mechanism in order to make sure that we can get to a proper de-escalation.

We have some flags that we put up here. This is not fully representative of the countries that are here. It’s happening very rapidly. The people are agreeing to come on board, agreeing to help. People really want to be a part of this, and it’s just happening very, very quickly.

So we’ll try to continue to give the updates as it progresses. But really just thank you to the entire team here who’s made all this possible. It’s been a lot of sleepless nights, around-the-clock effort, and it’s really been great coordination because everyone believes that it is possible to create something better in Gaza, and we have to believe it. We have to work hard for it, and if we all work hard to do that, then I do believe a great outcome is possible.

Vance: Thanks, Jared. Admiral.

Adm. Brad Cooper: Well, Mr. Vice President, thank you for joining us here today at the CMCC. Consistent with our commander-in-chief’s direction, this facility will be the hub for the delivery of everything that goes into Gaza as we look to the future, delivering on the commander-in-chief’s commitments.

Two hundred of America’s sons and daughters who wear the cloth of the nation have stepped up and are serving here. I just couldn’t be prouder, and I know that you are as well. Thank you so much.

Vance: Great. Thanks, Admiral and gentlemen. We’ll take a few questions now.

Reporter: I want to ask about the Turkish role. It’s very concerning for the Israelis that they’ve supported Hamas. What role will they have, and will they have troops that will be on the ground here or in the Gaza Strip?

Vance: Well, I think, first of all, what troops are on the ground in Israel is going to be a question the Israelis have to agree to. And I’m sure that Prime Minister Netanyahu will have opinions about that.

But we think everybody has a role to play here. Some of that’s going to be financial. Some of that’s going to be in reconstruction. Some of that’s just in communication with the various parties to ensure that this de-confliction process actually works and is implemented.

We’re not going to force anything on our Israeli friends when it comes to foreign troops on their soil. But we do think that there’s a constructive role for the Turks to play, and frankly they’ve already played a very constructive role. We’re very grateful for that.

And you asked, you know, they’ve supported Hamas in the past. No one who is a party to this conflict can look in the past and not point at something that they don’t like or that they disagree with. Everybody who’s been involved in this conflict can point at one other person — one of these flags can point at another flag — and say, “We hate that person for various reasons.”

The way that we’re going to get to peace is to focus on the future, which is what the president of the United States has asked us to do. And we think everybody here is very willing to do that and is very eager to engage in that effort.

Reporter: The ceasefire deal took months to negotiate. What do you think the likelihood is that it will last long term? If you had to put a number on it, what would it be?

Vance: Well, Jared’s the investor here. I’m not going to give you a percentage, but, look, what we’ve seen the past week gives me great optimism the ceasefire’s going to hold. And if we get from where we were a week ago to a long-term, durable peace between Israel and Gaza, there are going to be hills and valleys. There are going to be moments where it looks like things aren’t going particularly well. But given that and given the history of conflict, I think that everybody should be proud of where we are today.

It’s going to require constant effort. It’s going to require constant monitoring and supervision. That’s part of the reason that Admiral Cooper and his team is here, is to mediate these disputes, to mediate these disagreements as they come up.

But, look, right now I feel very optimistic. Can I say with 100% certainty that it’s going to work? No. But you don’t do difficult things by only doing what’s 100% certain. You do difficult things by trying. And that’s what the president of the United States has asked us to do.

Reporter: First of all, thank you for brokering the ceasefire deal. The question is for you. Hamas is supposed to return all remaining hostages from Gaza. There are still hostages being held in Gaza. Will you set a deadline for Hamas to bring back all the hostages? And, secondly, President Trump tweeted at Hamas today. … What is your warning to Hamas?

Vance: Yeah, so, Steve, I’m going to ask you to follow up here, but let me say just a couple of words about the deceased hostages. I mean, one of the stations that I met with, one of the groups that’s working on this that I met with earlier, they actually have a photo of the 15 deceased hostages who are still in Gaza. It is a focus of everybody here to get those bodies back home to their families so that they can have a proper burial.

Now, that said, this is difficult. This is not going to happen overnight. Some of these hostages are buried under thousands of pounds of rubble. Some of the hostages, nobody even knows where they are.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work to get them. And that doesn’t mean we don’t have confidence that we will. It’s just a reason to counsel in favor of a little bit of patience. This is going to take a little bit of time.

And, look, our warning to Hamas is very straightforward. The terms of the 20-point plan that the president put out there is very clear. It’s supported not just by Israel, but by all of our Gulf Arab friends. It’s that Hamas has to disarm. It’s that Hamas has to actually behave itself and that Hamas, while all the fighters can be given some sort of clemency, they’re not going to be able to kill each other, and they’re not going to be able to kill their fellow Palestinians. Now, again, that’s going to take a little bit of time.

We’re talking about how to set up the security and humanitarian apparatus to put all this in place. But right now, where I stand, I feel confident that we’re going to be in a place where this peace lasts, where it’s durable. And if Hamas doesn’t cooperate, then, as the president of United States has said, Hamas is going to be obliterated.

Steve, do you want to add anything about the hostages?

Witkoff: I think you said it, sir.

Vance: OK, great.

Reporter: Based on what you were just saying, how much time does Hamas have to lay down its arms before the United States either takes dramatic action or authorizes [unclear] … to do it?

Vance: Well, look, the president actually put out a truth this morning that I thought was very instructive. We know that Hamas has to comply with the deal. And if Hamas doesn’t comply with the deal, very bad things are going to happen. But I’m not going to do what the president of the United States has thus far refused to do, which is put an explicit deadline on it, because a lot of this stuff is difficult. A lot of this stuff is unpredictable.

You basically have two regions in Gaza, one of which is relatively safe — I wouldn’t say very safe — and one of which is incredibly dangerous. And part of ensuring that we get to a durable peace is to broaden the scope of the area that’s safe.

And the international security force [ISF] is a big part of that. We don’t yet have the international security force set up. That’s something we’re working towards. We have a number of volunteers who want to participate in that international security force.

So my point is I don’t think it’s actually advisable for us to say this has to be done in a week because a lot of this work is very hard. It’s never been done before. And in order for us to give it a chance to succeed, we’ve got to be a little bit flexible.

I think what you’re seeing from our Gulf Arab friends, certainly from our Israeli friends, is a certain amount of impatience with Hamas. But we’re going to keep on working at this process, and we’re going to keep on trying to bring the deceased hostages home but also make sure that all Gazans are able to live in a prosperous and safe place.

Reporter: The White House has said it plans to begin rebuilding Gaza, the part of Gaza that is still under Israeli control. So can you tell us a little bit about this plan, how it’s going to work?

Vance: Yeah, Jared, do you want to say a few words about that?

Kushner: OK. So, first of all, no reconstruction aid, no reconstruction funds will be going into areas that Hamas still controls. And as far as the demilitarization goes, once the ISF is up, there needs to be a security force that they can feel safe from in order for the transition to be complete. So that needs to happen.

There are considerations happening now in the area that the IDF controls as long as that could be secured to start the construction as a new Gaza in order to give the Palestinians living in Gaza a place to go, a place to get jobs, a place to live. So that’s one of the many things being considered.

Right now again there’s been several workstreams that have occurred over the last years. Those are all being synthesized and updated here at the center, and then they’ll go before President Trump and the Board of Peace to get recommendations on what to build, how to phase it.

But that’s definitely something now that’s being very strongly considered.

Vance: Great.

Reporter: Thank you so much, Mr. Vice President. My question is, from the level of cooperation that you just saw today in this place, how do you see the future of normalization of Israel in the region? Do you see growing cooperation between Israel and Arab Gulf states that we don’t see from the outside?

Vance: Yeah, well, you know, I think Steve put it best, which is that this model, I think, could serve for a foundation for normalization, not just in the Middle East, but across the world. Because what we’re taking again is a long-term, protracted conflict with two enemies who really don’t like each other, and we’re actually creating a model that can lead toward sustainable peace.

Now we know that a lot of our Gulf Arab friends would like to have normalized relations with Israel. We know that getting this peace on a sustainable pathway is sort of the critical first step of that.

But, look, I feel very optimistic about where we are. Knock on wood. You never know how this stuff is going to go. But given what I’ve seen, given the incredible talent and effort that’s going into the reconstruction of Gaza, to the long-term security of the Gazans in that territory, I feel very good about where we are.

And again, if we get this right, I really do think it’s going to be a domino that leads to a lot of further peace all across the region.

Reporter: First, does your visit this week indicate you feel that Israel massively overreacted to Hamas’ provocation? And, secondly, following the reaction, do you now feel that it’s feasible to have a government structure for Gaza that does not feature a strong Palestinian Authority?

Vance: Well, so on the first question, no. My visit had nothing to do with events of the past 48 hours. We had actually tried to plan this visit frankly months ago, and now we thought this would be a good time to do it. It ended up working out. As you know, sometimes calendars are difficult, especially when you’re the vice president of the United States, but I wanted to come. I wanted to check in on things. I wanted to, you know, talk to the troops who are working very hard to coordinate this massive relief effort, and I wanted to just see how things were going and put some eyes on it so I could call the president of United States and actually — you know, it’s one thing to read about it. It’s one thing to talk with Jared and Steve on the phone about what’s going on on the ground. It’s another thing to actually shake somebody’s hand, to look them in the eye, and to understand what are the challenges, what are the things they need from me. I mean, I heard from relatively junior troops very simple things that would make their lives easier that I’m going to take back to Washington and hopefully help them with.

That’s why you do a visit like this, not because of anything that’s happening on the ground.

On your question about what is the ultimate, you know, authority in Gaza, look like, I don’t know the answer to that question. And I think what’s so cool, what’s so amazing about what these guys have done is that we’re creating a governance structure that is very flexible to what happens on the ground in the future.

We need to reconstitute Gaza. We need to reconstruct Gaza. We need to make sure that both the Palestinians living in Gaza but also the Israelis are able to live in some measure of security and stability. We’re doing all those things simultaneously.

And then I think once we’ve got to a point where the both the Gazans and our Israeli friends can have some measure of security, then we’ll worry about what the long-term governance of Gaza is. Let’s focus on security, rebuilding, giving people some food and medicine.

If we get to the point where we’re arguing exactly what the governance structure in Gaza is long term, then we should pat ourselves on the back. That’s a very good problem to have, but I won’t anticipate that problem before we actually have it.

I’ll take a couple more, and then we’ll get moving.

Reporter: Would you give a few more details about the international security force, which countries are going to be a part of this, whose troops will be in Gaza? And also about the disarmament plan or decommission plan, are there incentives for Hamas to disarm in a timely fashion?

Vance: Well, the incentives are that unless Hamas disarms in accordance with the agreement, very bad things are going to happen, right? And also the incentive is that if they disarm, there is a better future for everybody on the other side of it. But in terms of the international security force, Steve and Jared, Admiral Cooper are working on that very issue right now.

Remember, this peace deal was struck under the president’s leadership literally a week ago. The hostages were turned, what, six days ago, five days ago? So we’re in the phase now where we’re actually starting to conceptualize what that international security force would look like.

I think it’s important for Americans to know a couple of things. No. 1, there are not going to be American boots on the ground in Gaza. The president of United States has made that very clear. All of our military leadership has made that very clear. What we can do is provide some useful coordination.

How do you take, you know, the Gulf Arab states, plus Israel, plus, you know, plus the Turks, plus the Indonesians, how do you actually get those folks to work together in a way that actually produces long-term peace?

The only real mediators are the United States of America. And so that’s the role that we’re going to play. I think the American people should be proud of it, but they should know that there are not going to be American boots on the ground in Gaza.

Reporter: Mr. Vice President, thank you very much. I’d like to ask about a different track. We see Iran rearming again. It’s going to build again their nuclear weapons. Should we expect again in Israel to see the U.S. Army attacking again in Iran?

Vance: Well, I’m not going to make any announcements here today. The president of the United States has been very clear about our policy with regards to Iran. It’s that he actually wants Iran to be prosperous. He wants to have good relations with the Iranians. But they cannot have a nuclear weapon.

And so we’re going to keep on using and exhausting every diplomatic means possible to try to ensure that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon. That’s our focus, and that will remain our focus for the indefinite future.

Let me just leave us with one final thought here.

So I’ve been to Israel once in my entire life. I came for about 36 hours. And as a Christian, I think the world’s Christians will know that this country, that this region of the world means a great deal to me. And at some point today I hope to go, or at some point in the next couple of days, I should say, I hope to go to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which Christians believe is the site that Jesus Christ was crucified in.

And I know that Christians have many titles for Jesus Christ, and one of them is the Prince of Peace. And I’d ask all people of faith, in particular my fellow Christians, to pray that the Prince of Peace can continue to work a miracle in this region of the world.

I think that we have made incredible strides over the past week. We’re going to have to make a lot more, but I think with your prayers, with God’s providence and with a very good team behind me, I think we’re going to get it done.

Thank you all. Take care.

Remarks by Vice President JD Vance and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

October 22, 2025, in Jerusalem

Source: https://www.gov.il/en/pages/event-statment221025

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Good morning. A few days ago we had a historic visit by President Trump that will be etched in the annals of our nation’s history. We’re fortunate today to have a visit by the vice president, JD Vance.

And I want to tell you a few things about that. First, in the last year we’ve had an unmatched alliance and a partnership with the United States. That is changing the Middle East, and it’s also changing the world. It creates opportunities not only for security, but for the expansion of peace, which we’re working on very, very diligently. And it’s just unmatched.

I’ve been here a few years. I’ve been through several administrations. I welcome the partnership and the assistance we’ve had. But there’s never been anything like it.

When President Trump said that it’s a partnership that’s never happened before, well, that includes a close circle, both on our side and on the American side. And President Trump knows who he picks for that circle. One of the members, to put it mildly, is the vice president. And we’ve had the opportunity to make decisions jointly in a very tight-knit and trusting partnership.

And I was impressed. I was impressed with your clarity, with your incisiveness, with your solidarity for our common cause, and just a genuine friendship that I saw both in conference meetings and also in our private meetings. And it’s in that spirit that I very much welcome you to Jerusalem in these days of destiny.

We’re changing the face of the Middle East. And I have to say, I was going to say, bring your family next year in Jerusalem, but welcome this year in Jerusalem, our great friend, JD Vance.

Vice President JD Vance: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, and thanks to your entire team for your hospitality and for having us. As the prime minister said, these are days of destiny, and we’re very excited to sit down and work together on the Gaza peace plan.

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 in Gaza, but also to ensure that Hamas is no longer a threat to our friends in Israel. That’s not easy. I think the prime minister knows that as well as anybody, but it’s something that we’re committed to in the Trump administration.

And I think we’ve, even in the past 24 hours, had a lot of good conversations with our friends in the Israeli government but also, frankly, with our friends in the Arab world who are stepping up and volunteering to play a very positive role in this. So we’re going to keep working at it.

I didn’t know what to expect, honestly. The president was here a week ago to welcome the hostages home and actually sign a deal. A week into it, there’s a lot of work to do, but I feel very optimistic about where we are.

So thank you for the partnership. Thanks for your willingness to continue to work on this, and I think we’re going to do great things here.

It’s not going to be easy. I know that there are some folks in the media who I think are rooting against this proposal, but I think that we have an opportunity to do something really historic.

So we’re going to keep working at it with all of our friends in the Israeli government. So thank you so much for having us.