Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sent Mossad chief Roman Gofman to Washington for talks with senior US officials as differences with President Donald Trump over the Iran conflict continue to grow.
According to Axios, Gofman met CIA Director John Ratcliffe on Friday and is also expected to meet White House envoy Steve Witkoff in Miami.
The visit comes at a moment, when Netanyahu reportedly urged Trump to restart military operations against Iran, while the US president appears increasingly inclined to avoid another round of strikes.
The discussions are significant as Israel seeks to keep pressure on Tehran, even as Washington signals a willingness to maintain the current status quo and pursue diplomatic options.
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The intelligence chief's visit follows reports of growing friction between the two leaders over the handling of the conflict.
Israeli media outlet Ynet, citing sources, reported that a weekend telephone conversation between Netanyahu and Trump, focused largely on Iran, turned unusually tense. One source described the exchange as a "shouting match from hell".
A senior Israeli official acknowledged that the conversation took place but disputed the account, saying it was "very much not a difficult conversation".
Netanyahu's office subsequently dismissed reports of a heated exchange as "fake news" and "complete nonsense".
The differences in their public positions, however, remain evident. Trump recently spoke of "positive momentum" in negotiations and indicated that he was prepared to hold off on fresh military action following a meeting with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, struck a much tougher note in the Knesset on Tuesday, arguing that Iran's nuclear threat cannot be permanently eliminated without removing the country's current leadership.
According to the Financial Times, Netanyahu has been calling Trump "every day" to push for renewed strikes on Tehran.
Trump, who joined Israel in launching military strikes against Iran in February, has since softened his position. Following the US midterm elections, he signalled that Washington would maintain the existing arrangement rather than immediately return to full-scale military action.
"We're just keeping it at the status quo," Trump said after meeting Qatar's prime minister.
The conflict has remained largely deadlocked for months. February's US-Israeli strikes triggered Iranian retaliation against American bases and interests across Gulf countries.
Tehran also effectively blocked shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, prompting Washington to impose a counter-blockade on Iranian ports.
A ceasefire framework agreed upon in June subsequently unravelled over disagreements concerning the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear programme.
Netanyahu has shown little inclination to abandon his stated objective. Addressing the newly inaugurated Knesset on Tuesday, he warned that Iran continued to pursue plans to destroy Israel.
"The only way to permanently remove this existential threat is to overthrow the ayatollah's rule," he said.
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