Netanyahu due in US to reshape Iran talks

TEL AVIV

A roadside billboard shows an illustration of destroyed U.S. and Israeli military aircrafts in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to head to the United States on Feb. 10 to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, in a trip seen as aiming to influence the ongoing talks between Washington and Tehran on Iran’s nuclear program.

The visit was initially set for Feb. 18 but was moved up by about a week to allow Netanyahu to weigh in as Washington continues talks with Tehran.

The meeting on Feb. 11 will be the seventh meeting between Trump and Netanyahu since the start of the U.S. president’s second term early last year. Five of their meetings were held in the U.S. and one in Israel.

Israel wants the Oman-mediated negotiations to go beyond Iran’s nuclear program and include a complete halt to uranium enrichment, restrictions on Tehran’s missile program and an end to its support for regional allies.

However, following the first round of U.S.-Iran talks held on Feb. 6 in Oman, Israeli officials appear unconvinced that Trump is committed to Israel’s demands, which Tel Aviv conveyed last week to U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff during his visit to Israel.

There is “a state of deep uncertainty in Israel regarding the direction the American president is taking on the Iranian issue,” Israel’s Maariv newspaper said on Feb. 9.
 

“So far, no one in Israel knows where President Donald Trump is headed.”

Israel believes “the current opportunity, with Americans mobilizing large forces capable of defeating Iran one way or another, is a once-in-50-years event, perhaps even rarer,” the daily said.

Israel has made clear to Washington that it is “prepared for any scenario” and has drawn a red line on Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities.

Israel’s public broadcaster KAN said Netanyahu wants the meeting with Trump to “influence the course of the talks underway between the United States and Iran,” amid Israeli concerns that any potential understandings may be limited to the nuclear file alone.