TEL AVIV — Israel is growing increasingly concerned about the concessions that the Trump administration appears willing to make to Iran in negotiations on curbing its nuclear program. 

Although US President Donald Trump’s April 7 announcement of direct talks with Iran caught Israel by surprise, it has since been assuring anyone who will listen that the Israeli government and Washington are fully coordinated on the talks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his top emissary Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, are said to be highly skeptical regarding a successful outcome of the negotiations that began April 12 and are expected to resume April 19. 

"The prime minister actually came back from the United States very pleased," one of Netanyahu's associates told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, referring to the unscheduled April 7 White House visit.

"The feeling is that we are up to date on all the details of the negotiations. The Americans are demanding a Libyan-style agreement from Iran, and that's good for us,” he said, referring to Netanyahu’s demand that any deal with Iran would entail the verified destruction of Iran’s nuclear program, as was the case with Libya’s fledgling program in 2003, when it agreed to completely dismantle its nuclear weapons. But in repeated interviews since Saturday, US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff indicated that the Trump administration is not seeking to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program but rather cap its enrichment capability.