Coronavirus Pushed Trump's Mideast Plan Aside, But White House Still Hoping To Promote It Before U.S. Election

The Trump administration is closely monitoring the unity government negotiations in Israel, but is officially staying mum on the subject for the time being in the hope that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Kahol Lavan leader Benny Gantz will succeed in finding a formula for a power-sharing agreement and avoid a fourth round of elections later this year.

For U.S. President Donald Trump, the formation of a unity government in Israel would create an opening for a foreign policy achievement, after weeks of nothing but negative headlines as a result of his handling of the coronavirus crisis. Trump is up for reelection in November and is planning to highlight his record on Israel and the Middle East in order to attract strong support from evangelical voters.

Before the coronavirus outbreak became a full-blown crisis, the White House was expecting to make major progress on the implementation of its Middle East plan, aka “the deal of the century.” Despite the fact that the pandemic has completely overtaken all other priorities in Washington, there is still hope within the administration to return to promoting the Middle East plan before the 2020 election – and the formation of a new Israeli government, after a year of three election cycles, would be a first step in that direction. -Full Report

Rivlin gives Knesset 21 days to agree on the PM it wants, or go to new election

Rivlin sets August 4 as date for fourth elections if unity govt not formed