Witkoff to Visit Israel Next Week for ‘War Plan Coordination’
White House envoy Steve Witkoff announces a visit to Israel next week to coordinate war plans, claiming Iran's nuclear enrichment capabilities are "almost completely destroyed."
White House Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff announced Tuesday in an interview with CNBC that he will "likely" arrive in Israel next week for a diplomatic visit focused on coordinating military strategies. While Witkoff confirmed the trip, he noted that the exact arrival date is still being finalized.
"I will probably visit Israel next week to coordinate war plans," Witkoff stated. He further claimed significant military progress, asserting, "We have almost completely destroyed all of Iran's enrichment capabilities—now let's see if the Iranians want to talk to us."
Witkoff’s announcement comes 24 hours after the reported cancellation of Jared Kushner’s planned visit to Israel. Witkoff’s trip is expected to be the first visit by a high-ranking U.S. official since the start of the joint U.S.-Israeli offensive against Iran.
The visit arrives amid shifting signals from Washington. President Donald Trump recently offered conflicting assessments of the conflict's status, suggesting at one point that the war is "nearly complete" due to the degradation of Iran's navy and air force, while later warning that any Iranian interference with oil transit in the Strait of Hormuz would be met with "twenty times" the force seen so far.
Earlier today, Trump told Fox News that despite the ongoing strikes, there may be an opening for negotiations, stating that the Iranian regime "desperately wants to talk."