The president, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by his nickname, called the situation “ridiculous” and said he was “not happy about that.”

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Trump has done little to hide the fact that he prefers Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister for a total of more than 13 years, to continue to lead the country.

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Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party won the largest share of the vote in April 9 elections and appeared to have the clearest path to forming a coalition, leading to an expectation that he would form a new government and begin his fourth term as prime minister.



But in Israel’s splintered parliamentary system, being able to form a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament, is all that matters, and Netanyahu ultimately failed in that task before the legal deadline expired.

Apparently unwilling to follow precedent by giving someone else the chance to form a coalition, the longtime leader’s political supporters pushed through a motion last week to dissolve the Knesset, propelling the country to a second round of elections set for Sept. 17.

For Trump, the new elections make the future of his political ally, who also is battling corruption charges, even more uncertain. But they also leave Trump’s long-anticipated peace plan in limbo.

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The president’s Middle East envoys — son-in-law Jared Kushner and Trump’s former lawyer Jason Greenblatt — planned to begin the first stage of the rollout of the long-awaited plan immediately after Israel’s elections and the formation of a new government.

The first stage, an economic workshop to build support for the financial aspects of the plan, is scheduled to take place in late June, with the political portion expected to follow quickly.

With a second Israeli election campaign now underway, that appears increasingly unlikely, although U.S. officials have said the Bahrain conference will go ahead as planned.

On Sunday, The Washington Post published an audio recording revealing that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had doubts about the prospects for the forthcoming peace plan.

Speaking at a meeting last Tuesday of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, a New York-based group that addresses concerns of the Jewish community, Pompeo said that some might describe the plan as “unexecutable.” He also said the administration had prepared for the eventuality that the plan does not gain traction and that Israel begins annexing parts of the West Bank anyway.

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The plan to solve a decades-old intractable conflict between Israelis and Palestinians also has been buffeted by a crisis in diplomatic relations between the United States and the Palestinians. The administration has taken actions vehemently opposed by the Palestinians, including recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, cutting funding to the Palestinian Authority and the U.N. refugee agency that assists it, forcing the Palestinian Authority’s diplomatic office in Washington to close and recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights.

The announcement last month that the anticipated peace process would begin with the economic forum in Bahrain was met with hostility by the Palestinian leadership. In comments last week in Ramallah, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the conference could go to hell.

“The Palestinian Authority does not recognize this conference,” he said.

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In his comments to the news media Sunday, Trump said he still thought there was a chance for peace, even as Pompeo warned it could prove elusive.

“Well, let’s see what happens. I mean, look, we’re doing our best to help the Middle East to get a peace plan,” the president said. “And he may be right. I mean, most people would say that. I think we have a good chance, but we’ll see what happens.”