Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be the first foreign leader to be hosted by US President Donald Trump in his second term, as the two leaders address the future of the Gaza ceasefire and ways to counter Iran.
They will meet just as indirect negotiations are due to resume this week between Israel and Hamas on the second stage of the ceasefire deal and hostage release.
The region is at a critical juncture, with the Gaza truce fragile, a parallel uneasy Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire agreement in Lebanon nearing possible expiration in coming weeks and concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions persisting despite its weakened state.
In his first term, Trump handed Netanyahu a series of successes, including relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv and the signing of the Abraham Accords, normalising relations between Israel and several Arab states.
He remains a strong supporter of Israel, taking credit for helping broker the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas militants in the Palestinian enclave even before he returned to office, while insisting he wants to end the wars in the Middle East.
Trump has said he hopes to renew an effort toward historic normalisation of relations between Israel and Arab power Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile the Israeli prime minister faces demands from far-right members of his coalition threatening to topple his government unless he restarts the fighting in Gaza to fulfill his pledge to destroy Iran-backed Hamas.
An ever-raging war would complicate if not block Trump's attempt to bring the Saudis to the negotiating table.
Even so, Netanyahu is all but certain to have a better reception this time than he received from former President Joe Biden.
Within days of returning to the White House, Trump approved a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel that the Biden administration had blocked.
Though Biden maintained military support for Israel after the Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack that prompted the Israeli assault on Gaza, relations were strained at times over the high Palestinian civilian death toll and Netanyahu's defiance of some US demands.
Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, played a key role in helping the Biden administration secure the long-sought Gaza deal before the January 20 transfer of power in the US and is expected to be heavily involved in the next round.
The first phase has led to Hamas' release of 18 hostages and Israel's release of hundreds of jailed Palestinians.
Trump and Netanyahu have both said they want to include Saudi Arabia in new regional arrangements building on the Abraham Accords, an effort that could help create a bulwark against Iran.
But Netanyahu's steadfast opposition to any move towards a Palestinian state, a stance supported by a growing number of Israelis in the wake of the Gaza war, stands as a potential obstacle to a deal with Saudi Arabia, which has previously insisted on agreement at least on a pathway to an independent Palestine.
Since taking office, Trump has stirred controversy by suggesting that Gazans should be moved to neighbouring countries such as Egypt and Jordan, echoing the wishes of Israel's far right and contradicting Biden's commitment against the mass displacement of Palestinians.
The Egyptian and Jordanian governments and other Arab states have rejected the idea.
Pro-Palestinian activists as well as those calling for the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas plan separate protests to coincide with Netanyahu's visit to Washington.
On his departure from Israel, Netanyahu told reporters he hopes his talks with Trump will help further redraw the map of the region.
High on the agenda will be Iran, which last year launched hundreds of missiles and drones against Israel, drawing Israeli retaliation that was said to have crippled Tehran's air defences.
Trump quit an international nuclear deal with Tehran in 2018 and both he and Netanyahu have vowed to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, concerns have grown in Iran that the new president might give Netanyahu the go-ahead to hit its nuclear sites.
