Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to push US President Donald Trump to take a tougher stance in nuclear talks with Iran.
Mr Trump said on the eve of the hastily arranged White House meeting - set to begin at 11am local time (4pm Irish time) - that he was considering sending a second US "armada" to the Middle East to pressure Iran to reach a nuclear deal.
But Mr Netanyahu, making his sixth visit to the United States since Mr Trump took office, will also be urging the US leader to take a harder line on Iran's ballistic missile programme.
Iran, which resumed talks with the US last week in Oman, warned of "destructive influences" on diplomacy ahead of the Israeli premier's visit.
Mr Netanyahu had been expected to come to the US for a 19 February meeting of Mr Trump's Board of Peace for Gaza, but reportedly brought forward his visit as the US-Iran talks proceeded.
While talking up hopes of a nuclear deal, Mr Trump warned in an interview with the Axios news outlet yesterday that he was "thinking" of sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the region.
"Either we will make a deal or we will have to do something very tough like last time," Mr Trump told Axios. "We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going."
Mr Trump, who ordered US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites during Israel's 12-day war with Iran last June, separately told Fox Business that any deal would have to involve "no nuclear weapons, no missiles."
He added that Iran's leaders "want to make a deal" but "it's got to be a good deal", saying Iran had been "very dishonest with us over the years."
Mr Netanyahu said as he left for the US that his talks would "first and foremost" be about the Iran negotiations, while adding that they would also discuss Gaza and other regional issues.
"I will present to the president our views regarding the principles for the negotiations," he said in a video statement before his departure. Mr Netanyahu's office said he would highlight Iran's missile arsenal.
Read more: US military pressure 'does not scare us', says Iranian FM
Israel's concerns came to a head during their unprecedented war last year, during which Iran launched waves of ballistic missiles and other projectiles at Israeli territory, striking both military and civilian areas.
The meeting will also come amid growing international outrage over Israeli measures to tighten control of the occupied West Bank by allowing settlers to buy land directly from Palestinian owners.
Israel's security cabinet approved the move ahead of Mr Netanyahu's visit. It is unclear whether the US president intends to bring them up.
A US official said that President Trump "does not support Israel annexing the West Bank" and wants stability, while holding off from directly criticising the Israeli government's moves.
Today's meeting will be the sixth encounter between the two leaders on US soil since Mr Trump returned to office in January 2025 - five times at the White House and once at the president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
A seventh meeting took place in Jerusalem in October when Mr Trump announced a ceasefire in Gaza.
