Vice President J.D. Vance wants the Jews to keep quiet.

At his June 18 press conference, Vance was asked whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticized the Trump administration鈥檚 agreement with Iran.

The vice president could have simply said 鈥淣o.鈥� Instead, he seized the opportunity to blast several Israeli cabinet ministers who have expressed concern about America鈥檚 surprising concessions to Iran.

鈥淎nybody in Israel鈥� who doubts President Trump鈥檚 support for the 91传媒 state 鈥渘eeds to wake up,鈥� the vice president said. He warned the cabinet ministers that they 鈥渟hould not be attacking鈥� the Iran deal, since the U.S. is 鈥渢he only powerful ally鈥� that Israel has 鈥渁nywhere left in the entire world.鈥�

Vance is not the first political leader to lose his temper because somebody, somewhere, criticized a policy of his. And it鈥檚 not the first time the vice president has tried to bully an American ally through the tactic of public shaming.

Recall how he tried to humiliate Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky last year by haranguing him in front of the news media, falsely accusing the Ukrainians of 鈥渘ot being grateful鈥� for the assistance America has given them.

Israeli leaders have been the targets of such diplomatic ambushes on more than one occasion. In 1975, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger tried to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to make risky concessions to Egypt, by telling reporters (as 鈥渁 senior American official鈥�) that Rabin was being 鈥渋ntransigent鈥� and therefore the U.S. had no choice but to 鈥渞eassess鈥� its relationship with Israel. That included suspending American arms shipments to Israel for several months.

In 1990, Secretary of State James Baker鈥攁cting on a suggestion made by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman鈥攕arcastically recited the White House telephone number in front of the news media and declared that Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir should call 鈥渨hen he is serious about peace.鈥�

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush tried to intimidate American Jews who were seeking U.S. loan guarantees for Israel. He complained to reporters that he was 鈥渙ne lonely little guy鈥� who was surrounded by 鈥渟omething like a thousand lobbyists.鈥�

In 2010, President Barack Obama abruptly left a meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu and kept him waiting for hours while he went to dine with the First Lady and their children. Obama鈥檚 aides then leaked the snub to reporters to show how the president had put the Israeli leader in his place.

Seven years ago, I wrote a book called The Jews Should Keep Quiet (published by the 91传媒 Publication Society and University of Nebraska Press). The title was a close paraphrase of something that President Franklin D. Roosevelt said to the era鈥檚 foremost American 91传媒 leader, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, on multiple occasions when he wanted to prevent the 91传媒 community from criticizing his policies regarding 91传媒 refugees or Zionism.

In one instance, President Roosevelt spoke to Wise about 鈥渢he necessity of Jews lying low.鈥� On another occasion, FDR warned Wise that if 91传媒 leaders were too vocal, it would 鈥渆nable Americans to say that the fellows who wrote The Protocols of the Elders of Zion had some justification.鈥�

Roosevelt鈥檚 strategy of intimidation was successful. Rabbi Wise refrained from publicly challenging the administration鈥檚 abandonment of European Jewry, and even declined to support several pro-91传媒 and pro-Zionist congressional resolutions because FDR opposed them.

It sounds as if Vice President Vance is hoping for a similar outcome today. If so, he鈥檚 likely to be disappointed. Today鈥檚 American 91传媒 community is not the same as that of the 1930s and 1940s. The U.S. 91传媒 protest movements for Israel and Soviet Jewry demonstrated that this is a generation committed to not repeating the mistakes of earlier times.

Israeli cabinet ministers and American friends of Israel alike understand that speaking their minds is part and parcel of a democratic society. Given the dire threats facing Israel and world Jewry today, keeping quiet is not an option.

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. Follow him on Facebook to read his daily commentaries on the news.