he supposed to strike the deal of the century jared kushner arrives in the middle east to drum up support for president donald trump's peace plan but he finds himself in the midst of a storm israel's prime minister couldn't form a government so parliament's been dissolved and the palestinians don't want anything to do with trump's deal and uphill battle lies ahead i'm. this is the day. the over the very last night. and it's still bad what happened this is real it looks like it's over with that reality and now they're back in the debate stage. our commitment is for a national government and not an ultra-orthodox government. your

efforts to strengthen the relationship between our 2 countries it's never been stronger so. i need to look up. also coming up on the day harvard honors german chancellor angela merkel by awarding her a doctorate and she give something back and return today is a day of joy it's your day many congratulations. i am delighted to be here today and would like to tell you about some of my own experiences. we start with a trumpet ministrations long awaited peace plan for the middle east jared kushner the president's son in law and senior advisor is touring the region to build support for what calls the deal of the century the details of which are still

unknown but the timing couldn't be worse the palestinians have rejected the plan already and israel is in political chaos prime minister benjamin netanyahu wasn't able to form a coalition government since elections in april so israeli lawmakers dissolved parliament now there will be fresh elections in september well get some analysis on what it all means for israel and for jared questioner in a moment but 1st more on israel's unprecedented political deadlock. it was a test of nerves for netanyahu until the last minute and he failed he couldn't afford to governing coalition of right wing and ultra religious parties so the parliament had no choice but to dissolve and trigger new elections in september. the divisive issue between netanyahu and his potential coalition partners was a law that would require ultra-orthodox men to serve in the military the cultural religious parties are vehemently against it while former defense minister avigdor

lieberman positioned himself as a guardian of nationalist secular values. but i think the public understands that netanyahu is likud party is selling out to the ultra orthodox. following the failed negotiations the israeli president could have tasked netanyahu selection opponent benny gantz with the formation of a new government but netanyahu said he could party blocked this by taking the initiative to push for a new vote overnight netanyahu was back in election mode. we'll carry out a clear focused campaign that will lead us to victory. reborn of. netanyahu his previous government will remain in office until the election in mid september when he could be indicted on corruption charges that's likely to become a hot issue in the run up to the vote. let's go to jerusalem and speak to michael friesen he is a middle east analyst with the u.s.

based independent news organization the media like michael thank you for joining us so how significant is this impasse that we're seeing in israeli politics we seem to be witnessing a historic divide in israeli politics. we are witnessing possibly one to many probably the end of the dynasty you know mr netanyahu had he survived as prime minister until july he would become the longest serving prime minister ever this place in the legendary they've been during the only prime minister more importantly though it's a young who has carved a very important niche for himself that israelis when they go to the voting booth take her seriously i doubt that many people could name another government head head of government of any of the western or western style country like israel would would be where the leader of the country can pick up a phone and in the left hand speak to putin in the right hands big the triumph and

have that kind of access and that kind of notoriety who people up the street they recognize the name that's yahoo they associated with israel it's very hard to counter that especially with 150000 missiles pointed at you and that's a big selling point for these really voter to move the classic fat lady sings in hebrew as well and nobody is really her tuning out all right you said possibly probably the end of an era you're talking about a fat lady singing so does that mean that now doesn't have any other major coalition options other than the party of avatar lieberman. now he can go to unity if you aren't see him you know it's all negotiation the matter how close you appear to be or it seems this is heavy duty horse trading as we call it in america. there's the currency is committee chairmanships in the knesset committees deputy prime ministership is planning as the ships and even as you see now a small party of only 5 seats can go up against the party of 35 seats and nothing

pretty cold in the whole new election what is the unknown in this one though they've never done this snap election again and people didn't want it who overwhelmingly is really didn't want to spend a quarter of a 1000000000 or have $1000000000.00 and they were in a think to tuesday's election that they're not happy about it so there's a minute here about who's going to get the affection and the disaffection let's talk about and shared question are now arriving in the middle east to to talk about the trumpet miss stations peace plan for the region and we should say the benjamin netanyahu is a keith and very close ally to the trumpet ministration a key piece of the puzzle if you will for any type of peace plan so how much does this already her to jared question as efforts in the region. i think it doesn't really hurt him all that much if it's stalls a little bit and creates a little more time that's great with and he's been doing that all along and sell

and he's pretty much run out of existence so he's going to get a little extra time here that's good but what he's trying to do with it father was an inspiration trying to go the back door 1st that trying to line up support in the arab world the palestinians the odd man out and from the internal all of that pressure. going to squeeze out not at least they're talking about a deal to heal this century they've the avoid terms like peace proposals and peace and all that it's not these 2 dispensary is the deal of the century deals of the century come with a cost to and israeli people have in that consider the fact that many believe if there's a cost that they will be built for it you actively some of these goodies that they will receive no less of yours and michael that we keep talking about and this deal of the century what is actually in it what do we know about what is part of this deal. well it's a remarkable effort so far remarkable because in the middle east to keep something

leak is absolutely amazing and. what they've done with the cushion of team has done is release the idea that it will be a strong economic component basically making a deal the palestinians can't refuse because of the financial woes they find themselves in regularly and is how students are equally upset that there is being viewed as an entity that would take the money and run no that part is not on the table and everybody's playing posturing and getting ready for the next round but the political sign all the all the. tremendous issues that nobody can get anywhere with for year after year decade after decade that's all been months gone there's no word yet of what those are pretty much the speculation has been put to rest every time something awful is stated in terms of being willing to somebody you talked about the palestinian perspective let's listen to what we have palestinian

politician had to say earlier. and it's clear that so 5 americans have been kicking the ball down that road all the time about that plan in order to give israel more time to create such intellectually and for them to create thoughts on the ground where that is such as to those messages and so on and prevent. any type of intervention from anybody else including the europeans to have a political initiative ok so it's very clear message there everyone else is being left out of this only the israeli perspective is being respected here so does jury questionnaire really have a chance to engage the palestinians if they are against any sort of deal from the start. it's really in the deal and there's no way of telling what the author is going to be what the authors of the proposal have been saying regularly since the beginning is that this is going to be a very pragmatic document that this is going to deal with realities on the ground

and not worry so much about the p.r. kind of stuff that most of the other efforts and if you piece that field then eventually maybe their own form plus if what is wrong is nobody has really seen the documents in the proposal know exactly what they believe are these pragmatic realities that they're going to be addressing it's hard to answer the question we really just don't know michael i do want to ask you about benjamin netanyahu himself things are not getting easier from his facing possible indictment on corruption charges as well how much is all of that affecting his image among voters . now netanyahu has been somewhat teflon for a long time he's been in the public eye for decades he's the longest running prime minister he had a term in between where he wasn't so he's got more than 10 years under his belt but this time he's done something to the people of israel for fear to be riling that

madden itself is unusual the people of israel understand human nature and they take . sitting around for a minister or other or someone who is being investigated for corruption charges that's all really matter of course but this time that the prime minister has himself been behind legislation that would make it. illegal to bring in an 8 min against a sitting prime minister and this has really touched a nerve because the israeli people as a whole if i can generalize tend to feel that if you can do something like this for prime minister you believe the treatment he's receiving shouldn't happen to him he should be for the next guy not for you and the fact that even the coalition partners and potential coalition partners had to honest to support. legislation of that sort. really set a tone that we haven't seen it haven't seen before and if this runoff is as reason it's been as the previous one and this could be the end. all right michael friedman

a middle east analyst with the media line thank you so much for joining us on our program the pleasure. that's. just. that requires us not to describe lies as truth and truth. thank you thank you. german chancellor angela merkel delivering the commencement speech at harvard university earlier and on a reserved for the very few she was awarded an honorary doctor of law degree as well let's talk about the speech we have our chief political editor michelle a cafe with us here in a studio and alexander phenomenas at harvard where she's been listening in on the speech for us alexandra let's start with you give us your highlights from this commencement address from the chancellor. so me i think that angle a

merkel struck the right tone here in harvard was in the audience as you said listening to this speech watching the erection in the crowd people applauding laughing standing up for the chancellor and i think it was a very smart move to start talking about her personal life growing up in east germany seeing this berlin wall that limiting possibilities as a scientists and then the wall fell and everything was possible and she as she said in her speech and she even you know became chancellor of the united germany so that was something that really impressed to distance i talked to and then she also talked about the fundament of the transatlantic relationship that is now is the critical condition she talked about as the basis for the fundament of this relationship values. democracy and human rights and that

this relationship is still very strong and important to tackle the problems the world is facing she said that to solve those problems such as for example climate change it's important to work together or we have to act multilateral rather than unilateral we have to go global then national and we have to work together so this was a very positive message america had here for the graduates and i think that many students at least in students i talked to like this much message very much all right so the speech went down well there and harper and michelle when they come to you and ask you for your reactions you know what were your takeaways from the speech we were all speculating is this going to be a political political speech will she say anything new what do you think but i think she went a bit beyond usual as xander fleshed out the speech. pro multi-lateralism

because he also addressed the students rather directly and telling them that it will be their task in the future to tear down walls there was a quote that we just heard where she said that lies should not be called the truth and the truth should not be called lies that her 1st standing ovations and that was understood and i believe quite rightly so as a pretty direct reference to donald trump and his administrative ministration she also said that protectionism and trade conflicts are jeopardizing the very foundations of our prosperity clearly hinting more than hinting at what could be a trade war there between the united states and china which would have huge implications on the entire global economy and she also said that we should stick with our. values and act according to those now this is something we've this is come up and again again throughout many speeches that she's held in the past this

is something she wants to also see as her legacy but as she pointed out she will soon be part of the history books that that leadership that is required for those key challenges in the future will be probably with some of the students so they clearly have a task ahead of them but this is the context for us when we talk about the difficulties right now in transatlantic relations between the u.s. and germany yes i mean there are a lot of real really serious issues that it's appears germany and europe won't be able to move beyond we have. come here secretary of state actually on friday she will meet him here with him the german foreign minister will meet with him and the over arching conflict really is over iran of the united states having decided to leave what's become known as the iran nuclear deal with now the prospect of a potential confrontation in that particular region this is goes against everything

that is. europe believes in when it comes to diplomacy what would what kind of a deal should be reached to stabilize and contain potential conflicts now much more confrontational style in the united states and that's just one of the issues not to mention the threats and then withdrawn threats of. tariffs tariffs 1st it was steel then cause so a lot of issues where the united states is unafraid of playing out its national strength and that's also something that's also said would not lead to any kind of. solution when it comes to meeting those global challenges ok so it's a rocky road at the moment but still as we heard from alexandra you know she delivered a fairly positive speech to tell us more about the background of why harvard invited the chancellor and if you see this as also an important platform for her what do you think it meant to the chancellor to be invited to receive this degree to be able to deliver this address. well i think for her it was

a great honor to be here to be here far away from problems at home from political turbulence in germany and europe and of course it was a great honor to receive on the river degree and to speak here today for howard it is quite. a way of celebrating this day to invite famous and prominent speakers remarks of course here steven spielberg and smoko was the 4th german chancellor who was invited here to congress much of it and how whole and this university we also have to mention has very close ties to germany going back to the 19th century but also there is one fact that we should mention the faculty at harvard is considered to be rather liberal leaning and many here are merkel as leader

and are quite happy with the president. and the white house you know we saw that with the moments of applause that we saw from the students the items that they chose to applaud their mission. you know one more last question to you about the question of michael's legacy we're talking about how long she's going to be in office as she's being celebrated abroad and she's also been facing a lot of challenge and many challenges here at home yes absolutely i mean her term runs out and 2021 she herself has ruled out taking up any further political office herself she mentioned in that speech that once again it's an open question where the future will lead her but her own coalition just suffered a setback in the social democrats received yet another slap down at the box in those elections that we saw last weekend and there's a lot of question marks whether this coalition and her chance are actually reached the full time until 2021 so she has

a bumpy road here at home in europe and globally all right our correspondents michelle akutan are here with us in studio and alexander for now men at harvard thank you both as always. now it's listed by many travel advisors as a destination to visit in 2019 and dave is nearly halfway through its run as a european capital of culture so it's time to get cracking area 2nd largest city is often overlooked by tourists as they say with the quirky post soviet charm of the country's capital sofia but tucked in for that 8000 year history and beautiful roman ruins is season the opportunity to use culture as a binding thread for its social fabric. the battle to congress 2nd largest city club dave has a turbulent history it was one son to thresh roman and osman rule.

postal communism has also left its mark making a cultural mix together is the motto of this european capital of culture. gallery owner vessel enough sorry you shows us her hometown crowd if it's also place where different minorities meet as a turkey. are many and people roma people and of course the area and they are all proud of their almost 2000 year old roman theater which hosts events throughout the summer there is more history in the archaeological museum the world famous pen a gritty treasure ritual thracian drinking vessels made of 6 kilograms of gold. in the center of the city gallery sorry it was one of the initiators it be exhibitionists listen to us one of the capital of culture events beaches contemporary art from europe spoken states.

listen to us focuses on social issues including bulgaria's communist past and the situation of women. is famous for its restored old tower. what your steps in the old town and now high heels. the streets are narrow about wide enough for 2 loaded mules that once had to pass by one another. most of the buildings date back to the 19th century. like this. from a private villa to one of the most beautiful houses in the whole town. this is that graphic museum of floor of the if one of the. places of the night the

museums and galleries and this house is perfect example of barak architecture in plovdiv a little further up hill and you have the best view of a plot dave built on 7 hills it's one of the all the cities in europe. next we head towards come the hipness district in the old employer. that used to be notorious for traffic jams now these problems by ground for creative people high street artists. still man is one of the most famous ball garion spray is banned with a bit of luck you can watch over his shoulder while he would. love to have has a lot to offer this year not always mega events but many small happenings that have one main goal bringing people together especially through culture.

and finally today u.n. secretary general antonio terrace has been awarded the annual charlemagne prize which recognizes work done in the service of european unity the jury in the west german city of aachen said they selected the secretary general for his work in reviving global cooperation past recipients of the sauder have included the french president the model and michael german chancellor merkel and press. that's it for the day but the conversation continues online you'll find us on twitter either at news or at some ugly ass and don't forget to use our hash tag the day when leave you now with some impressions of the day america was honored by

harvard university. the thought has guided not only germany on the long haul thought. over. quantum chemist turned stalwart state's 1st. round round round. round the room right around. the world. thought.

the conflict with tim sebastian. houses in the european parliament elections have shaken off the continent as follows takes i guess this week there was talk august of 2 time and the theme a memory a collapse a felt soft sound so we say i'm going to follow me european peoples fasi what did

she on the phone. role conflict. d.w.b. . the present europe at its most summation at its most exciting. its most creative colorful clearly trying to taste innovative brilliant charming exciting. and fearless to hold. on t.w. . to know that 77 percent. are younger benthic spot. that's many ends meet and you.

claim to know what time of voices while on the 77 percent talk about the issues. from politics to flash from causing a good time to this is where. welcome to the 77 percent. this weekend d w. 5 years ago there was no far right to talk extreme right populist did not have. earthquake they expected politics is full of mistakes voters in the european parliament elections have shaken out the continent's politics turning away from the major power blocs that have dominated brussels in recent years and boosting the smaller groupings the greens the liberals and the far right my guest this week here

in stockholm is the 2 term n.e.p. a memory a caracas a built who sat so until recently under the banner.