Netanyahu meets Witkoff, Kushner ahead of White House talks with Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Tuesday with U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner ahead of scheduled talks with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday.

The meeting, held at Blair House in Washington, focused on “regional issues,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said, adding that Witkoff and Kushner briefed the premier on the first round of talks with Iran.

Other participants included Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter and Netanyahu’s military secretary, Roman Gofman, according to a photo distributed by the PMO.

Netanyahu touched down in Washington just hours earlier for his seventh visit since Trump began his second term, saying the trip would focus on Iran, Gaza and other regional developments.

“I will present to the president our perspectives on the key principles in the negotiations—principles that, in my view, are important not only for Israel but for anyone in the world who seeks peace and security in the Middle East,” the premier said on the tarmac at Ben-Gurion Airport.

Netanyahu was also scheduled to meet U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday, about two hours before his private Oval Office meeting with Trump, according to the State Department.

© JNS