Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir’s recent visit to Washington, DC included highly discreet meetings with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine and the entire senior team, in what was one of the most significant working channels in Israel-US relations - according to two senior diplomatic sources who spoke with The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
The meetings took place at The Pentagon and were held behind closed doors, with details kept tightly controlled on both sides, consistent with public reporting that Zamir held a secret weekend visit and met senior US defense officials.
A growing axis: IDF, CENTCOM, and the Joint Chiefs
According to one source, a three-part operational and strategic axis has taken shape between
the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, the commander of United States Central Command, and the Joint Chiefs and their staff. The channel has produced frequent engagement, including periodic meetings that, at times, have occurred on a near-weekly basis.
Publicly, Zamir has held recent meetings with Brad Cooper, including during Cooper’s late-January trip to Israel.
The Post has learned that the Washington discussions included coordination mechanisms and intelligence sharing, with both sides exchanging assessments and operational lessons.
The second source added that the talks covered defensive and offensive capabilities relevant to shared contingencies, without providing operational details. The framing aligned with public reporting that the Zamir-Caine discussions occurred amid rising regional tension and renewed focus in Washington and Jerusalem on Iran.
The timing also fit a wider pattern of stepped-up allied consultations. Reuters reported that the meeting came as the US increased naval and air defense presence in the region and as tensions with Iran climbed.
A preparatory visit by the head of Military Intelligence
The arrival in Washington of Israel’s head of Military Intelligence, Maj.-Gen. Shlomi Binder, roughly a week earlier, served as preparation for the chief of staff’s trip.
Separately, Axios reported that Binder visited Washington for high-level meetings tied to Iran-related intelligence and coordination.
According to one of the sources, the Washington session included Caine and teams from the Joint Staff.
The source described the meeting as split into two parts: A first segment between Joint Staff teams and the Israeli delegation. A second, longer one-on-one session between Zamir and Caine. The second diplomatic official emphasized the format as a sign of the depth of the channel, especially given how the relationship has developed over the last year, including earlier engagement during President Donald Trump’s October 2025 address to Israel’s parliament, when Zamir met Caine on the sidelines.
They linked the intensified coordination to post-2025 regional realities, including lessons drawn from Israel’s direct confrontation with Iran in June 2025, known in Israel as Operation Rising Lion.
The practical result has been a tighter, more routinized channel that connects battlefield learning, intelligence fusion, and contingency planning across Jerusalem, CENTCOM’s area of responsibility, and the top levels of the US military.
No immediate response
According to earlier reporting by The Jerusalem Post on Sunday, Zamir said he believed a potential US attack was about two weeks to two months away.
This would mean they expect an immediate attack, despite US President Donald Trump’s threats on January 14 and the arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group last week.
On the flip side, the June 2025 attacks on Iran came as a surprise when the Islamic Republic and America were, at least publicly, still in the middle of intensive negotiations about a potential nuclear deal.
During his visit to the US, Zamir presented recent intelligence that indicated Iran’s progress in rebuilding its military capabilities.
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.