MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
President Trump called the ceasefire he brokered between Israel and Hamas the historic dawn of a new Middle East. That was eight days ago. Vice President JD Vance arrived in Israel today as part of an effort to bolster a truce that's already proving shaky. For the latest, let's go to NPR's Greg Myre in Tel Aviv. Hi, Greg.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Mary Louise.
KELLY: So we said JD Vance is there to bolster this truce. Does he have a specific message that he's brought to Israel?
MYRE: Well, he said this trip was planned a while back before the ceasefire, but the visit does seem to show that Trump is very much engaged and committed to making this truce work. Vance went to southern Israel, not too far from the Gaza border, and that's where 200 members of the U.S. military have rapidly built a center for civilian military cooperation to keep track of the truce. Now, here's Vance at the noisy center, talking about the prospects for peace.
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JD VANCE: Right now, I feel very optimistic. Can I say with a hundred percent certainty that it's going to work? No. But you don't do difficult things by only doing what's a hundred percent certain. You do difficult things by trying, and that's what the president of the United States has asked us to do.
KELLY: Greg, it's worth reflecting that just through both his presidential campaigns, Trump said he would not allow the United States to be dragged into what he called forever wars. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict would seem to qualify as Exhibit A of a forever war.
MYRE: Yeah, it sure does. Trump seems a bit torn on this. He says he wants to avoid open-ended conflicts, yet he also believes he's a master negotiator who's able to end wars. He keeps saying that he's ended multiple wars, deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. So he's very much taken ownership here, but that was also true of many previous U.S. presidents, and none was able to forge a full-fledged Middle East peace. And we've already seen trouble - heavy fighting Sunday between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
One important point, Mary Louise, Trump is putting pressure on Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu to stick to the truce. Many U.S. presidents have been reluctant to lean on Israeli leaders. Trump is not, and he has leverage. The ceasefire is certainly part of that leverage. And you may recall just four months ago, in June, Trump ordered U.S. airstrikes on Iran to help Israel with its own bombing campaign against that country's nuclear facilities.
KELLY: Indeed. Given the poor track record that ceasefires between Israel and Hamas have of sticking, did President Trump get ahead of himself by declaring peace in Gaza and in the region?
MYRE: So the ceasefire is certainly significant, and most everyone here is giving Trump credit, but you can see parallels to President George W. Bush and the Iraq War back in 2003. Just six weeks into that war, with the U.S. in control of Iraq, Bush went aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier and essentially declared the war over in front of this huge banner that read, mission accomplished. And then an insurgency erupted, and the U.S. fought for many years and was still fighting in Iraq during Trump's first term. That should be a cautionary tale for the Middle East. Yet, at the ceasefire signing ceremony last week in Egypt, Trump stood in front of a huge banner that read, peace in the Middle East.
KELLY: So along with JD Vance, there are other high-profile Americans in Israel. Who else is there? What are their messages in this moment?
MYRE: Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner landed yesterday as part of the same mission. They played a key role in nailing down the ceasefire. Now they're trying to nudge the sides to phase 2, which is more complicated. And we can't say this loudly enough - Gaza doesn't have a government. We don't know when they're going to get one.
KELLY: NPR's Greg Myre in Tel Aviv. Thank you, Greg.
MYRE: Sure thing, Mary Louise. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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