U.S. Envoy’s Push in Middle East Yields Little
George J. Mitchell leaves the region after six days of talks without key concessions from Israel or the Palestinians. President Obama had hoped to unveil a regional peace initiative next week.
By Richard Boudreaux and Paul Richter
September 19th, 2009
David Makovsky of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said the administration contributed to the standoff by raising Palestinian and Arab expectations that Netanyahu would accept a total settlement freeze.
“Now it has the unpleasant task of telling Abbas that this may be the best that could be achieved, and maybe it’s time to move on to the next phase.” Abbas “now feels that he’s stuck in a box,” Makovsky said.
