Hegseth Quietly Meets Netanyahu As Trump Weighs Massive New Iran Offensive

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth quietly traveled to Israel on Monday to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as President Donald Trump weighs another major military offensive against Iran.

The unannounced visit took place just eight days before Israel’s parliamentary elections and roughly two weeks before America’s midterms. The meeting occurred amid discussions between Washington and Jerusalem about potentially resuming large-scale military operations against Iran, Axios reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

Hegseth met Netanyahu at Ovda Air Base in southern Israel, where American fighter jets and aerial refueling aircraft are deployed, Axios reported, citing two sources.

The Pentagon referred to a recent X post showing Hegseth visiting American troops at Ovda Air Base in southern Israel, where U.S. fighter jets and refueling aircraft are deployed.

“Things are about to get spicy,” a senior military official familiar with the situation recently told the Daily Caller News Foundation, suggesting American operations against Iran could soon intensify.

The Israeli Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“As always, it was an honor to visit our warfighters in @CENTCOM today,” Hegseth wrote in the X post. “The best of our country, on a historic mission. Godspeed.”

American political leaders visiting Israel is hardly unusual. Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama all visited Jerusalem’s Western Wall outside their presidencies, while Trump became the first sitting American president to visit the holy site in 2017, according to the White House.

Trump has also publicly backed Netanyahu’s reelection campaign, calling him a “Great Warrior Prime Minister” and praising his cooperation against Iran in an Oct. 18 Truth Social post.