Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the White House on Wednesday for high-stakes talks with Donald Trump, slipping quietly into the compound through the South Entrance rather than the West Wing doorway where reporters were gathered.

The discreet arrival underscored the gravity of a meeting dominated by one overriding concern: Iran.

According to Israeli officials, Netanyahu was expected to press Trump to resist any narrow nuclear agreement with Tehran that would leave Iran’s enrichment program intact. Jerusalem remains deeply wary of a deal that fails to dismantle Iran’s uranium stockpiles, curb its ballistic missile program, and end its backing of regional proxy militias.

“I will present principles for negotiations with Iran that are important not only to Israel but to everyone who wants peace and security,” Netanyahu said earlier this week as he boarded Israel’s state aircraft, Wing of Zion. “These are principles for anyone who wants stability in the Middle East.”

Trump, speaking a day before the meeting, signaled both openness and warning.

“Iran wants to make a deal very badly,” he said. “But if it doesn’t, we will have to do something very tough.”

The talks also come amid renewed uncertainty over the future of Gaza and broader regional security. Netanyahu recently joined Trump’s newly formed “Gaza Board of Peace,” formalizing Israel’s participation during meetings in Washington with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

In a letter signed in January, Netanyahu pledged Israel’s commitment to the board’s charter, calling the agreement “definitive” and binding on the Jewish state.

Before heading to the White House, Netanyahu held consultations at Blair House with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump adviser Jared Kushner. The two briefed him on the first round of indirect talks with Iran, held last Friday through regional mediators.

Those discussions, officials said, were exploratory—but raised concerns in Jerusalem that Washington might be tempted by incremental progress rather than sweeping limits.

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