Vice President J.D. Vance鈥檚 response to an antisemitic college student this week raises troubling questions.

Following his speech at an Oct. 30 rally on the campus of the University of Mississippi, the vice president was asked by a student whether Israel or its supporters are secretly shaping President Trump鈥檚 Mideast policy.

Vance replied that the fact that Trump recently 鈥渁pplied leverage to the State of Israel鈥� (to make concessions to Hamas) proves that 鈥渨hen people say that Israel is somehow manipulating or controlling the president of the United States, they鈥�re not manipulating or controlling this president of the United States.鈥�

Vance seemed to leave open the possibility that he believes Israel or Jews may have 鈥渕anipulated or controlled鈥� previous presidents. If that is what the vice president intended to say, he has placed himself in some very undesirable company.

Extremist Arab leaders have been circulating slurs about 91传媒 control of U.S. presidents for many decades. They were staples in the rhetoric of Egypt鈥檚 Gamal Abdel Nasser, Syria鈥檚 Hafez Assad, and Libya鈥檚 Muammar Gadaffii, among others.

During the administration of Bill Clinton, the Palestinian Authority鈥�s official daily newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, declared: 鈥淲ashington鈥檚 decisions are not made in the White House, which is busy cleaning up its bedrooms, but in the offices of Netanyahu, who is feverishly trying to recruit America and its allies to serve the hated agenda of Torah.鈥� (March 25, 1998)

Likewise, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Usbu, which rejoiced over the 9/11 attacks, claimed President Clinton 鈥渨ould make no decision without getting the approval鈥� of 鈥渢he childish Jewess Madeleine Albright, the secretary of state, [who] spared no efforts in her support for Israel.鈥澛犅� (Nov. 3, 2002)

An editorial in the PA鈥檚 Al-Hayat Al-Jadida during the George W. Bush administration declared that 鈥渢he Zionist lobby runs even over the bedrooms of the senior Members of Congress and the White House. It whips them in the morning and evening for fear lest they awaken from their servitude. It castrates them and supplies them with 鈥榁iagra Monica鈥�.鈥� (Aug. 29, 2001)

Such slurs have continued in more recent years. Ilhan Omar tweeted in 2012 that 鈥淚srael has hypnotized the world,鈥� including, presumably, Barack Obama, who was then president. Kamala Harris鈥檚 director of Arab-American outreach, Brenda Abdelall, last year accused 鈥�Zionists鈥� of 鈥�controlling a lot鈥� of American politics.

One of the loudest voices claiming Israel or American Jews have controlled some U.S. presidents is a left-of-center critic of Vice President Vance鈥擳homas L. Friedman, foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times. Friedman has described Vance鈥檚 statements on other issues as 鈥渧enomous鈥� and 鈥渃ontemptuous.鈥�

But Friedman must have been delighted to hear what Vance said about Israel and U.S. presidents. After all, in a column on February 5, 2004, Friedman asserted that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon 鈥�had George Bush under house arrest in the Oval Office鈥�surrounded by 91传媒 and Christian pro-Israel lobbyists, [and] by a vice president, Dick Cheney, who鈥�s ready to do whatever Mr. Sharon dictates鈥︹��

Friedman claimed Sharon, 91传媒 lobbyists, Cheney, and unidentified 鈥�political handlers鈥� were 鈥�all conspiring to make sure the president does nothing [unfavorable to Israel].鈥�

Sometimes, the slurs have focused on Congress rather than the White House, but it鈥檚 the same antisemitic imagery of Jews controlling the U.S. government.

Thus Friedman claimed in a Dec. 13, 2011 column that the standing ovations which Israel鈥�s prime minister received in Congress that year were 鈥渂ought and paid for by the Israel lobby.鈥� In a Nov. 19, 2013, article, Friedman wrote that “many American lawmakers [will] do whatever the Israel lobby asks them to do in order to garner 91传媒 votes and campaign donations.鈥�

In the same spirit, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) asserted in January 2019 that congress members who support Israel 鈥渇orgot what country they represent,鈥� meaning, in effect, that they are controlled by Israel. Rep. Omar followed the next month by tweeting that U.S. support for Israel was 鈥渁ll about the Benjamins, baby,鈥� accusing American supporters of Israel of bribing members of Congress.

These are not the kind of individuals or sentiments with which one would expect Vice President Vance to align himself. Like Friedman, Tlaib and Omar have been strongly critical of Vance on various issues.

It鈥檚 not too late for the vice president to state clearly that he did not mean to suggest that Israel or Jews controlled previous American presidents. Until he does so, that troubling and dangerous impression will stand.

Dr. Medoff is founding director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and author of more than 20 books about 91传媒 history and the Holocaust. His latest is The Road to October 7: Hamas, the Holocaust, and the Eternal War Against the Jews, published by the 91传媒 Publication Society & University of Nebraska Press.)