United States Vice President JD Vance has accused some members of Israel’s government of trying to influence US public opinion ⁠to oppose a deal to end the war with Iran.

In remarks made during an interview with US podcaster Joe Rogan that aired on Wednesday, Vance offered unusually pointed criticism of one of Washington’s closest allies.

Vance defended a deal the US reached last month to end the war with Iran, adding, “I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there have been people within the Israeli government who are ‌trying to, like, actually shift us away from that policy because they want to continue the military campaign.”

Vance, whom many view as a potential future presidential candidate, has previously criticised Israel in what has become a widening public rift between the two countries.

“There’s a literal foreign influence campaign being funded to tank the very deal that I was pursuing,” Vance told Rogan, citing a report published by Time Magazine on Monday, which said a former Trump campaign manager was hired on behalf of Israel to run a digital campaign to influence US views of Israel and the Iran war.

“You have seen this very discreet, extremely well-funded campaign to try to derail the negotiation and try to derail the deal,” said Vance.

“There are some people within their system that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely,” he added.

Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington, DC, said the Israeli-linked influence campaign Vance referenced is likely “meant to influence Trump’s MAGA [Make America Great Again] base”, which is increasingly divided over US policy towards Israel.

“That explains why Vance went on the Joe Rogan podcast,” said Culhane. “[Rogan is] one of the most popular podcasters in the country and is very much a key voice in influencing the young men that make up the MAGA base.”

The US vice president also claimed an Israeli-linked influence campaign had targeted him personally over his diplomatic outreach to Iran.