ARCHIVAL PHOTO: CENTCOM Commander, Admiral Brad Cooper, visits Israel, January 25, 2026. © X / IDF
A high-ranking Israeli military delegation led by the Israeli Defence Force Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, held a secret visit to Washington on the weekend due to expanding tensions over the Iranian atomic and rocket program and the expanding US military presence in the region.
According to reports from Israeli and American media, Zamir met at the Pentagon with the Chair of the College of Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, and another high-ranking U.S. Defence officials to supply confidential intelligence, discuss military options against Iran, and effort to establish ongoing diplomatic contacts between the Trump administration and Tehran.
A visit, which was not made public at the time, occurred at a time erstwhile Israel grew concerns that US president Donald Trump could yet enter into an agreement with Iran that would focus on freezing uranium enrichment while leaving mostly intact Tehran's ballistic rocket program and not allowing military action.
Israeli defence Minister Israel Katz later met with Zamir in Tel Aviv to discuss the military's operational readiness ‘for all possible scenario’, informed Katz's office on Sunday.
The United States increased its presence in the mediate East, deploying USS aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, additional rocket destroyers and advanced air defence systems, creating, as Trump described, "a immense and beautiful armada".
Israeli reports propose that even high-ranking officials in both countries are not certain that Trump will take military action.
Trump publically stated that he preferred a diplomatic solution and refused to disclose his plans, even in terms of closing US allies, arguing that this might undermine the negotiations.
At the same time, he warned Tehran that "time is moving away" and that a possible future attack would be much more violent than the US-Israeli attacks last summer.
Although Israel tried not to give the impression that it was pushing Washington into war, officials personally warned that refraining from action after repeated threats could be perceived as ‘weakness’ Iran, as reported by Ynet. At the same time, they estimation that if the United States had attacked the muslim Republic, Tehran would most likely have responded in retaliation to Israel, possibly triggering a wider regional confrontation.
Washington assures us that it is not seeking to destabilise Iran or repeat the collapse like Libya, while Iranian leaders keep that their atomic programme is peaceful and that talks through intermediaries are progressing.
Translated by Google Translator
source:https://www.rt.com/news/631841-israel-general-visit-pentagon/
