Mossad Chief Meets CIA Director in Washington as Netanyahu Presses Trump to Resume Iran War

The head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, Roman Gofman, visited Washington on Friday for talks with senior Trump administration officials about the war in Iran, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to push for a resumption of military strikes.

Gofman, a close confidant of Netanyahu, met with CIA Director John Ratcliffe and was expected to travel to Miami for discussions with White House envoy Steve Witkoff, according to Axios, which cited three sources familiar with the matter. The Mossad, CIA and White House all declined to comment on the visit.

The trip comes amid intensified lobbying by Netanyahu, who has reportedly been calling Trump “every day” to urge him to resume military action against Iran.

A person briefed on the discussions said: “Netanyahu calls him every day [to urge him to resume the war]. Those who don’t want a war within the White House and outside have been trying to combat that”.

Trump has so far rejected the pressure, opting instead to maintain naval blockades and economic pressure on Iran while exploring a possible agreement.

In a post on Truth Social following talks with Qatar’s prime minister, Trump wrote that Gulf allies “would prefer the status quo,” naming Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait.

He said renewed US strikes on Iran now appeared “quite unlikely” and that there was “positive momentum” toward ending the conflict.

The diplomatic maneuvering unfolds against a backdrop of political uncertainty in Israel. Netanyahu lost his parliamentary majority in the October 27 election, and opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot has been tasked with forming a new government.

A source close to Eisenkot said he does not believe the current situation demands immediate military action against Iran. Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Gofman’s trip was not disclosed to Eisenkot during his security briefing with Netanyahu.

Netanyahu met with Eisenkot for two hours on Thursday to brief him on the Iran situation, and Eisenkot subsequently issued a statement saying he would not allow unsupervised actions by Netanyahu during the transitional government period.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that further military action against Iran was unnecessary because the “economic pain” inflicted by US sanctions on Tehran “was so great”.