WASHINGTON — The director of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency was in Washington on Friday for talks with senior Trump administration officials about the war with Iran. Axios reported, citing three sources with knowledge of the matter.
Roman Gofman is meeting CIA Director John Ratcliffe, the sources said, and is also expected to travel to Miami to meet White House envoy Steve Witkoff, according to one of them. Mossad, the CIA and the White House declined to comment, according to the report.
The visit comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pressing President Donald Trump to restart military operations. Israel’s Ynet reported that Gofman was sent as part of Netanyahu’s effort to persuade the US president to renew the offensive. HTN World could not independently verify the content of the talks.
Trump has so far held back
According to Axios, Trump has so far rejected Netanyahu’s pressure to return to combat, and the two discussed the war in a call on Nov. 5, per a US official cited by the outlet. The Financial Times reported on Nov. 10, citing a person briefed on the discussions, that Netanyahu had been pressing Trump to restart the conflict.
The US has maintained a blockade on Iranian ports, which was recently expanded to cover land routes, according to The American Conservative. Trump has not ruled out force. He said on Thursday he could use military force against Iran “right now” if US allies or ships were threatened, telling the Salem News Channel: “No hesitation.”
Divergent views in Israel
Ynet reported that Israeli defence officials see no immediate need for strikes and would prefer any future operation to be carried out alongside the United States. The same report cited Ynet military analyst Ron Ben-Yishai as saying neither Israeli nor US intelligence has information that Iran currently possesses a weapon or capability posing an existential threat to Israel. That is Ben-Yishai’s account and has not been confirmed by either government.
Background
The US and Israel began bombing Iran on Feb. 28, 2026, and a shaky ceasefire has been in place since April 8, according to The New Arab. Since then, negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme and the Strait of Hormuz have repeatedly stalled and restarted. No resumption of strikes has been announced.
