The director of Israel's Mossad spy agency, Roman Gofman, is in Washington on Friday for talks with senior Trump administration officials about the war in Iran, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter. Gofman, one of Benjamin Netanyahu's closest confidants, is meeting CIA Director John Ratcliffe and is also expected to travel to Miami to meet White House envoy Steve Witkoff. Mossad, the CIA and the White House declined to comment.

The visit comes as Netanyahu presses President Trump to resume the war against Iran. The two discussed the conflict during a Nov. 5 call, according to a U.S. official. Trump has so far rejected that pressure. Instead, he has sided with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE in continuing the naval blockade and economic pressure campaign against Iran while seeing whether a deal is possible. "I could end it immediately," Trump said on Thursday. "At the request of the nations that I'm looking to protect, we are doing it a little bit longer way, a little bit more civilly." He added that Saudi Arabia had asked him to let the current situation continue for a while because Iran is "disintegrating."S1S2

The pressure is also tied to Israeli domestic politics. Netanyahu lost his parliamentary majority after the Oct. 27 election, and his opponent, Gadi Eisenkot, has received a mandate to form a new government, though it is unclear whether he can do so. Israeli opposition leaders are reportedly concerned that Netanyahu may try to launch an attack on Iran, or provoke Iran into attacking Israel, to undermine Eisenkot's efforts. On Thursday, Netanyahu met Eisenkot for two hours and briefed him on the Iran situation. A source close to Eisenkot said he does not believe the current situation demands immediate military action against Iran.S1S2