Netanyahu rushes to Washington over fears surrounding Iran negotiations

Netanyahu is expected to insist that any deal with Iran cover its nuclear program, ballistic missiles, and regional proxy activity.

By World Israel News Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Washington earlier than planned this week for an expedited meeting with President Donald Trump, as Israeli officials grow increasingly concerned about the direction of American negotiations with Iran.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu is scheduled to meet Trump on Wednesday morning in Washington. The visit was moved forward at Netanyahu’s request, a senior White House official told Israel’s N12 News.

Netanyahu is expected to depart Israel on Tuesday morning, land in Washington that evening, and hold the meeting at the White House on Wednesday morning local time. He is scheduled to return to Israel by Friday morning.

In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office said Netanyahu will stress that any agreement with Iran must address not only Tehran’s nuclear ambitions but also its ballistic missile program and its support for Iran-backed proxy forces across the region.

Israeli officials argue that Iran’s missile arsenal caused significant damage to Israel during Operation Rising Lion and cannot be separated from the nuclear issue.

The accelerated visit reflects mounting unease in Jerusalem over what officials describe as troubling signals from the U.S.–Iran talks. Israeli officials fear President Trump may be retreating from understandings previously reached with Israel before the negotiations began.

Those concerns were reinforced by recent reporting in The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, which said Iran rejected U.S. demands to halt uranium enrichment during indirect talks held in Oman on Friday.

The discussions made only limited progress on core disputes, though both sides agreed to continue negotiations in an effort to avoid further escalation.

A regional diplomat briefed on the talks said Iranian representatives refused to end enrichment on Iranian soil but signaled openness to discussing the “level and purity” of enrichment or the possibility of a multinational enrichment framework.

The diplomat added that Iran made clear its ballistic missile program was not up for discussion.

The talks included Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and envoys representing President Trump, including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

According to the diplomat, Iranian officials believed the American negotiators “seemed to understand Iran’s stance on the enrichment and they showed flexibility about Tehran’s demands.”

Speaking after the Oman talks, Araghchi was explicit. “The enriched uranium in our possession will not leave Iran. We will not agree to zero enrichment,” he said.

In an interview with Al Jazeera following meetings in Doha, Araghchi stressed that the indirect negotiations with the United States are limited strictly to the nuclear issue and that ballistic missiles are not open for discussion now or in the future.

President Trump offered an upbeat assessment of the talks over the weekend. “We had very good talks. They want an agreement. They know what will happen if they don’t reach an agreement,” he said.

Against this backdrop, Netanyahu is expected to convene an urgent round of consultations in Jerusalem on Sunday, including a meeting with coalition party leaders and a session of the security cabinet, underscoring the sense of urgency on the Israeli side.

Adding to the significance of the Washington visit, Israeli media reported that Brig. Gen. Omer Tishler, the incoming commander of the Israeli Air Force, is expected to join Netanyahu’s delegation and take part in the expanded meeting with President Trump.

Such participation would be unusual, as senior military officers rarely accompany the prime minister to meetings with the U.S. president, highlighting the security weight attached to the visit.