VP JD Vance’s 35-year-old chief of staff is Jewish pro-Israel strategist Jacob Reses.
Vance delivered a Jewish wedding prayer at Reses’ wedding in January. The Vice President hardly goes anywhere without Reses and maintains a close personal relationship with him.
While opposed to mass immigration, abortion, and strong on social issues like transgenderism, Reses is a fervent Zionist who celebrated the erection of Israel’s flag “over the rubble” of Gaza.
Reses has been outspoken about his Zionism from an early age. At Princeton, Reses served as treasurer of Tigers for Israel, where he vocally criticized a pro-Palestine student group that targeted the hummus maker Sabra over its alleged links to Israeli human rights abuses in the occupied territories.
Reses has publicly advocated for a coalition between conservative Christians and Jews. In September 2025, he reposted Joe Lonsdale’s post remarking that Jews should no longer be “squeamish” about the majority’s invocation of the “Christian deity” and other elements of the Christian faith.