Foundation for Middle East Peace - April 28, 2009 - Back to Resources Page

---

George Mitchell’s appointment as Middle East peace envoy has strengthened expectations that President Barack Obama will revitalize American diplomatic leadership committed to making peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Mitchell is viewed by all parties as a statesman of extraordinary stature and experience. His mandate comes directly from the president and he takes his direction from the White House. He will open an office in the U.S. consulate in West Jerusalem, headed by an official from the State Department. Additional staff are expected to be on the job soon.

Mitchell inherits a complex diplomatic framework established during the Bush years to support the Road Map and the Annapolis process. The Quartet seems set to continue as an important vehicle for mobilizing international support for U.S. diplomacy. Security assistance to Palestinian security services has been the key element in the U.S. policy arsenal and may even be expanded. Gen. Keith Dayton’s tenure as the head of this effort has just been extended by two years and he is set to serve as Mitchell’s full time security deputy. It remains unclear, however, how a U.S.-supported security effort aimed at least in part at protecting a government led by Mahmoud Abbas against Islamist opponents can be squared with a massive release of Palestinian prisoners now being discussed by Israeli and Hamas representatives in Cairo or with support for Palestinian national reconciliation that will necessarily reflect the increased power of Hamas on the Palestinian national scene.Mitchell will also be challenged to leverage the successes of the security program—in maintaining West Bank quiet during the Israeli assault on Gaza earlier this year and in dismantling the Islamist-run social safety net—to win tangible security and political concessions by a new Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Ehud Barak.

To download the full report please click below:

Attachment	Size
PDF.pdf	213.88 KB

---

Foundation for Middle East Peace - April 28, 2009 - Back to Resources Page