On the White House lawn this morning, U.S. President Donald Trump said of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it's "too bad" he had failed to form a coalition and had to call an election, adding that Netanyahu was a "great guy."
"It's too bad what happened in Israel. It looked like a total win for Netanyahu [in the April 9 election]," Trump said. "And now they're back in the debate stage and they're back in the election stage," he continued.
Late Thursday the Knesset passed a bill to dissolve and hold early election on Sept. 17 after Netanyahu unsuccessfully tried to assemble a governing coalition and swear his fifth government. Netanyahu pushed for the dissolution to prevent the possibility that President Reuven Rivlin would tap someone else to form a government.
The election makes the Knesset term the shortest ever.
"We will win," Netanyahu, 69, vowed after the Knesset voted when the deadline expired.
Meanwhile, the White House team tasked with drafting the administration's peace plan, including his son-in-law and senior strategic adviser Jared Kushner, held talks with Netanyahu today in Jerusalem but made no public comment about a specific date for the release of the plan.
The group is in the Middle East to drum up support for what Kushner styles will be an economic conference in Bahrain next month whose aim is to encourage countries to invest in Palestinian infrastructure and the economy in the West Bank and Gaza.
Kushner's visit comes a day after he spoke with King Abdullah II in Amman, trying to gain the Jordanian king's support for the peace plan, which is expected to be unveiled soon.
"Even though we had a little event last night," Netanyahu said after meeting with Kushner. "That's not going to stop us – we're going to keep working together."
Netanyahu said he was going to work with the administration on achieving peace and prosperity in the region and that the "alliance between Israel and the United States has never been stronger."
