By MELANIE LIDMAN

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is heading to Washington on Tuesday to encourage President Donald Trump to expand the scope of high-stakes nuclear talks with Iran. The negotiations resumed last week against the backdrop of an American military buildup.

Israel has long called for Iran to cease all uranium enrichment, dial back its ballistic missile program and cut ties to militant groups across the region. Iran has always rejected those demands, saying it would only accept some limits on its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

It’s unclear if Iran’s bloody crackdown on mass protests last month, or the movement of major U.S. military assets to the region, has made Iran’s leaders more open to compromise, or if Trump is interested in broadening the already difficult negotiations.

Netanyahu, who will be in Washington through Wednesday, has spent his decades-long political career pushing for stronger U.S. action toward Iran. Those efforts succeeded last year when the U.S. joined Israel in 12 days of strikes on Iran’s military and nuclear sites, and the possibility of additional military action against Iran is likely to come up in this week’s discussions.

Decisions are being made

Netanyahu’s visit comes just two weeks after Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East adviser, met with the prime minister in Jerusalem. The U.S. envoys held indirect talks in Oman with Iran’s foreign minister on Friday.

“The Prime Minister believes that any negotiations must include limiting ballistic missiles and ending support for the Iranian axis,” Netanyahu’s office said over the weekend, referring to Iran-backed militant groups like the Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Years of nuclear talks have made little progress since Trump scrapped a 2015 agreement with Iran, with strong encouragement from Israel. Iran has shown little willingness to address the other issues, even after suffering repeated setbacks. But the meeting with Trump gives Netanyahu an opportunity to shape the process and may also bolster his standing back home.

“Clearly these are the days when decisions are being made, America is expected to complete its force buildup, and it’s trying to exhaust the prospect of negotiations,” said Yohanan Plesner, head of the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem-based think tank.

“If you want to have influence on the process, only so much can be done via Zoom.”

Israel fears a narrow agreement

Trump threatened a military strike against Iran last month over the killing of protesters and concerns of mass executions, moving a number of military assets into the region. Thousands were killed and tens of thousands detained at Iranian authorities crushed the protests over widespread economic distress.

As the protests largely subsided, Trump shifted his focus to Iran’s nuclear program, which the U.S., Israel and others have long suspected is aimed at eventually developing weapons. Iran insists its program is entirely peaceful and says it has the right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes.

Sima Shine, an Iran expert formerly with Israel’s Mossad spy agency who is now an analyst at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said Israel fears that the U.S. might reach a narrow agreement with Iran in which it would temporarily halt uranium enrichment.

A deal in which Iran halts enrichment for several years would allow Trump to claim victory. But Israel believes any such agreement that does not end Iran’s nuclear program and reduce its ballistic missile arsenal will eventually require Israel to launch another wave of strikes, she said.

Iran might be unable to enrich uranium after last year’s strikes, making the idea of a temporary moratorium more appealing.

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Some members of Netanyahu’s cabinet have signaled that unilateral action remains on the table for Israel even if a deal is reached that Trump hails as a victory, with Energy Minister Eli Cohen telling Army Radio on Tuesday that Israel views Iran’s ballistic missiles as a grave threat and “reserves the option to act” should an agreement not meet its security needs.

In November, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was no longer enriching uranium due to the damage from last year’s war. The U.S. and Israeli airstrikes killed nearly 1,000 people in Iran, while Iranian missile barrages killed almost 40 in Israel.

It’s unclear how much damage was done to Iran’s nuclear program. Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency have been unable to visit the bombed nuclear sites. Satellite images show activity at two of them.

Netanyahu faces election this year

Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, has long touted his close ties to world leaders, particularly Trump, who he has praised as the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House. This week’s meeting allows Netanyahu to show Israelis he is a player in the Iran talks.

“The issue of relations between Netanyahu and Trump will be the issue of the campaign, and he is saying, ‘Only I can do this, it’s only me,’” Shine said.

Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, having held the office for a total of over 18 years. His government, the most nationalist and religious in Israel’s history, is expected to survive until the election in October, or close to it.

Netanyahu was originally scheduled to visit Washington next week for the Feb. 19 launch of Trump’s Board of Peace, an initiative that was initially framed as a mechanism for rebuilding Gaza after the Israel-Hamas war but has taken on a larger mandate of resolving global crises.

Netanyahu agreed to join the initiative but is wary of it because it includes Turkey and Qatar, countries he does not want to have a presence in postwar Gaza because of their relations with Hamas.

Moving the visit up could provide an “elegant solution” that allows Netanyahu to skip the launch without offending Trump, Plesner said. Netanyahu’s office declined to comment.

By STEPHEN GROVES

WASHINGTON (AP) — Under questioning from Democrats Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick acknowledged that he had met with Jeffrey Epstein twice after his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a child, reversing Lutnick’s previous claim that he had cut ties with the late financier after 2005.

Lutnick once again downplayed his relationship with the disgraced financier who was once his neighbor in New York City as he was questioned by Democrats during a subcommittee hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He described their contact as a handful of emails and a pair of meetings that were years apart.

“I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with him,” Lutnick told lawmakers.

But Lutnick is facing calls from several lawmakers for his resignation after the release of case files on Epstein contradicted Lutnick’s claims on a podcast last year that he had decided to “never be in the room” with Epstein again after a 2005 tour of Epstein’s home that disturbed Lutnick and his wife.

The commerce secretary said Tuesday that he and his family actually had lunch with Epstein on his private island in 2012 and he had another hour-long engagement at Epstein’s home in 2011. Lutnick, a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, is the highest-profile U.S. official to face bipartisan calls for his resignation amid revelations of his ties to Epstein. His acknowledgement comes as lawmakers are grasping for what accountability looks like amid the revelations contained in what’s known as the Epstein files.

In countries like the United Kingdom, the Epstein files have triggered resignations and the stripping of royal privileges, but so far, U.S. officials have not met the same level of retribution.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, the Democrat who questioned Lutnick, told him, “There’s not an indication that you yourself engaged in any wrongdoing with Jeffrey Epstein. It’s the fact that you believe that you misled the country and the Congress based on your earlier statements.”

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Meanwhile, House members who initiated the legislative effort to force the release of the files are calling for Lutnick to resign. Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky called for that over the weekend after emails were released that alluded to the meetings between Lutnick and Epstein.

Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, joined Massie in pressuring Lutnick out of office on Monday.

“Based on the evidence, he should be out of the Cabinet,” Khanna said.

He added, “It’s not about any particular person. In this country, we have to make a decision. Are we going to allow the rich and powerful people who are friends and (had) no problem doing business and showing up with a pedophile who is raping underage girls, are we just going to allow them to skate?”

Waiting for a Mentor: Sara

Kids ‘n Kinship provides friendships and positive role models to children and youth ages 5-16 who are in need of an additional supportive relationship with an adult. Here’s one of the youth waiting for a mentor:

First name: Sara

Age: 6

Interests: Sara is a first-grader who likes to play with her older brother and sister. Her favorite toy is her Barbie. At school, she likes going to specialists — gym and art. If she gets frustrated, she likes to use the calming corner in the classroom.

Personality/Characteristics: Sara has a fun-loving and talkative personality. She likes to be silly, but she also says she is a good listener. Her guardian says she can be very independent but craves a lot of attention.

Goals/dreams: If she had a wish, she’d turn herself into a pony or a flower. Her guardian hopes having a mentor will help her navigate life and be another supportive adult in her life.

For more information: Sara is waiting for a mentor through Kids n’ Kinship in Dakota County. To learn more about this youth mentoring program and the 39+ youth waiting for a mentor, sign up for an Information Session, visit www.kidsnkinship.org or email programs@kidsnkinship.org. For more information about mentoring in the Twin Cities outside of Dakota County, contact MENTOR MN at mentor@mentormn.org or fill out a brief form at www.mentoring.org/take-action/become-a-mentor/#search.

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Mark Pavelich grappled with mental illness in the final years of his life, long after playing a big role in the “Miracle on Ice” in 1980. He was charged in 2019 with a felony for assaulting a neighbor he thought had spiked his beer, and experts diagnosed him with a mild neurocognitive disorder due to a traumatic brain injury that was likely related to repeated head injuries.

“I’m convinced it happened because of the number of hits he took, and also he had some real personal trauma in his life,” lifelong friend Ronn Tomassoni said. “It all caught up to him at the end.”

Mark Pavelich

Going to the Eagle’s Healing Nest in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, seemed to help. Sister Jean Pavelich Gevik felt she had her brother back. Neal Broten said he and other U.S. Olympic teammates didn’t realize how much pain Pavelich was feeling.

“He sounded fine. Everything was great,” 1980 U.S. captain Mike Eruzione recalled. “I thought he was very comfortable and in a great spot, in a great place. But when you have that kind of illness or sickness, you never know. And I don’t think anybody knew.”

Pavelich died by suicide on March 4, 2021, his death one of several linked to hits to the head from playing hockey, and his sister suggested CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, may have been a factor. Before taking his life, he wrote her a sizeable check to keep efforts going at The Ranch — Teammates for Life for athletes, veterans and first responders suffering from PTSD, substance abuse or mental distress associated with traumatic brain injury.

The Ranch had become a source of purpose for Pavelich, and the members of the country’s last gold-medal winning men’s hockey team have made it a point to raise money and awareness for it in his memory.

“He’s part of our family,” said Rob McClanahan, who also played with Pavelich in the NHL with the New York Rangers and roomed with him on the road. “It’s really important to know that we all struggle. I don’t want to get hugely philosophical, but life is hard and things like this bring it to the forefront.”

Who Mark Pavelich was

On the ice, Pavelich was a skilled forward whose talent was clear from a young age growing up in Eveleth, Minnesota. He starred at Minnesota Duluth and assisted on Eruzione’s game-winning goal when the underdog Americans beat the heavily favored Soviet Union 46 years ago.

Off the ice, “Pav” was soft-spoken and not much of a talker. Broten remembers Pavelich plucking his guitar and singing Neil Young songs on bus rides.

“He was just a quiet, sweet person,” Broten said. “He didn’t stay very much in the locker room. He didn’t say very much away from the locker room. Kept to himself. That’s Mark Pavelich.”

He also loved to hunt and fish, something Eruzione used as bait to get Pavelich to agree to a TV interview on the Rangers’ broadcast. It only materialized after Pavelich was offered a $1,000 gift certificate to a fishing store.

“He looks at me, he says, ‘How long is the interview going to take?’ ” Eruzione said. “We ended up doing it, but that’s the only way I could get him to come on the air.”

Getting to know The Ranch

Pavelich when he was first arrested spent time in a mental institution. With help from former teammate Barry Beck, retired goaltender Clint Malarchuk — who has been public about his own mental health struggles and suicide attempt — and founder Mel Butler, Pavelich got into the Eagle’s Healing Nest for military veterans and their families.

“Mark and I have a lot of the same issues, problems, lifeline almost,” Malarchuk said. “He died by suicide, and I almost died by suicide, so we can certainly relate to each other’s issues.”

When the veterans were asked if they’d accept Pavelich into their ranks despite not serving in the military, Tomassoni recalls them saying, “We think he and 19 other teammates served their country really well in 1980 when they lifted a whole country’s spirits when that country’s spirits needed to be lifted.”

Pavelich and Beck envisioned opening a mental wellness facility in a warm locale, but the Eagle’s Healing Nest gifted them a building and land for free. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised and invested to fix it up and open The Ranch, which has now had roughly 40 people go through it.

Retired player Dan Carcillo, who has been open about his history of traumatic brain injuries and opened Experience Onward, a psilocybin treatment center in Oregon, got better only after saying the death of close friend and former hockey player Steve Montador saved his life. He believes success stories and tragedies like Pavelich’s and Montador’s are both needed.

“It forced me into action — because I saw what the alternative was, and it was dying,” Carcillo said. “There’s unfortunate situations where people don’t make it out, and they’re never able to see the light and they’re never able to get better.”

Paying tribute to Mark Pavelich

Several 1980 alumni, Malarchuk and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly were among those in attendance for the “Do You Still Believe in Miracles” Gala in New York in October that raised $1 million for The Ranch.

“It means a lot to do that, to get together for a great teammate of ours and somebody who had some things happen to him and that maybe didn’t want to recognize them himself,” Harrington said. “This is important for us, and it’s important for mental health and everything else that we show that it means something to us.”

Nearly five decades since the Olympics in Lake Placid made them national heroes, players from that team still cherish chances to get together. That includes honoring Pavelich.

“The team is still close,” Broten said. “Mark was such a big part of our team: a super quiet guy, a peaceful guy. It’s sad to talk about, but we still keep him in our hearts and move on with life, I guess.”

Eruzione said he and Jack O’Callahan, who has gotten involved with rescue dogs, named one in training Pav.

“The dog Pav is going continue to help somebody,” Eruzione said. “Even though Mark’s not with us, he’s still with us.”

Knowing full well that her brother set up Bill Baker’s tying goal with 27 seconds left against Sweden and Eruzione’s against the Russians, Jean Pavelich Gevik believes The Ranch will be his lasting legacy.

“I don’t want to downplay anything there,” she said. “But I feel like this is his greatest assist.”

The puck goes past the feet of U.S. goalie Jim Craig as a tight defense stops the Soviet attack in the first period of the USA vs. USSR ice hockey game, Friday, February 22, 1980, in Lake Placid. Players are, from left to right: Mark Pavelich, William Baker (partially hidden), James Craig, and Soviet player Helmut Balderis. (AP Photo)

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