US envoy hints Israeli-Palestinian peace plan delayed to November

As Israeli polls failed to yield a government and a new election is slated for September 17

JERUSALEM: US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy hinted on Sunday at a further delay until early November to the unveiling of a White House peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"I think the logic would still dictate that if we wanted to wait until a new (Israeli) government is formed, we really do have to wait until potentially as late as November 6," Jason Greenblatt said in a Jerusalem Post interview.

Palestinians say US 'deal of the century' will finish off their state

The Trump administration had already delayed its presentation of the plan until after Israel's April 9 elections, but those polls failed to yield a government and a new election is slated for September 17.

A new government will potentially come into office in early November, following the selection of a potential premier and negotiations to form a coalition.

"It's no secret that the Israeli elections have certainly put a new thought into our head," Greenblatt said, in a video of the New York interview published online.

"Had the elections not been called again, perhaps we would have released details of the deal during the summer," he said.

White House's Kushner in Jerusalem for Israeli talks

Greenblatt recalled that the Trump administration had already delayed presentation of the deal until after the holy month of Ramadan, which ended in early June.

The Trump administration is organising a conference later this month in Bahrain on the economic aspects of the peace plan.

The Palestinian leadership is boycotting the conference and has cut ties with Washington, over the Trump administration's perceived pro-Israel bias.