Vice President JD Vance voiced optimism about the future of the peace agreement between Israel and Hamas, urging Christians to pray for the region.
“I know that Christians have many titles for Jesus Christ, and one of them is the Prince of Peace,” Vance said at a news conference announcing the opening of a Civilian Military Cooperation Center. “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 gonna get it done.”
Vance noted in his speech that if Hamas does not 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,” the vice president explained, going on to explain that peacemaking must be “flexible.”
Elsewhere in his message, Vance criticized media groups for spreading fear of the peace agreement’s setbacks.
“I want to say that there is this weird attitude I’ve sensed in the American media and the Western media, where there’s almost this desire to root for failure — that every time something bad happens, and every time 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,’” he stated. “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.”
