Obama is expected to leave March 19 for his first-ever trip as president to Israel, with additional stops in the West Bank and Jordan.

That’s just three days after the deadline Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still struggling to meet to form a governing coalition after his Likud party won a narrowed plurality in Jan. 22 elections there. …

Netanyahu’s already gotten one two-week extension. If he doesn’t get a government set by the new March 16 deadline, Israeli President Shimon Peres will have to choose between ordering a new election and asking another leader to try to form a government.

The tensions and tight time frame put Obama in a tricky situation as preparations for the trip continue: risk heading overseas to meet with a leader in political turmoil, or decide to postpone the trip — a move that would undoubtedly stir trouble for a president with an already rocky relationship with Netanyahu and heavily scrutinized relationship with the Jewish State.