Daily Times

President Donald Trump dives into Israel’s tense election Monday (Jan 27) by hosting both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and rival Benny Gantz ahead of unveiling a “peace plan” already rejected by the Palestinians.

The president, overshadowed by his impeachment trial in the Senate and a difficult reelection campaign, has a packed schedule both Monday and Tuesday taking him deep into Israel’s turbulent politics.

Israel goes to the polls in a little over a month, with Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud and Gantz’s centrist Blue and White party currently running neck-and-neck.

On Monday, Trump greets both men separately for Oval Office talks. Then, on Tuesday, he again hosts Netanyahu for what is expected to be the official rolling out of the White House’s long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.

While the plan – the latest iteration in decades of so-far failed US attempts to resolve the conflict – already faces strong criticism, Trump’s friend “Bibi” Netanyahu could be an early beneficiary.

A peace plan favouring the Israeli side in the conflict – as critics say the text will show – would demonstrate yet again that Netanyahu enjoys the US president’s near-unquestioning support.

Trump has already thrown Netanyahu a string of previous political presents.

These include breaking with international diplomatic consensus to recognize the disputed city of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, recognising Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which were seized from neighboring Syria, and ending opposition to Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

The release of the Trump administration’s peace plan has been repeatedly delayed, after Israel held two inconclusive national elections within a year. Israel will head to a third round of elections in March.