The stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process and U.S. position toward Israel has reportedly frustrated Special Envoy and Obama administration negotiator George Mitchell, leading him to offer his resignation, which was rejected in turn. Peace talks have gone nearly nowhere and Israeli, Palestinian and U.S. officials alike have scattered blame for the failure. Mitchell reportedly objected to a decidedly pro-Israel posture from the Obama administration, which has unsuccessfully attempted to pressure Israel into certain concessions.
It is important to note that some observers could question Mitchell’s position on the administration’s pro-Israel attitudes by pointing to his Lebanese heritage. Mitchell’s mother is a Maronite Christian from Lebanon and Mitchell is considered Arab-American. However, in dealing with the peace process and negotiations, Mitchell’s objectivity and steadfast support for the White House’s positions are unblemished. There is no credible evidence to support that Mitchell’s positions are biased, albeit one could make the argument that Mitchell has failed due to stalled negotiations. As a counter to that point, Mitchell has only been on the job for a year and solving a decades-long conflict mired in repeated failures — not to mention a lack of political will by some participants — will take a bit more time.
Interestingly enough, the Obama administration has been called pro-Israel, pro-Arab, anti-Israel, and everything in between. The White House, in fact, has very little clout on the ground and continues to expend political capital on the region, to no avail (see this post).
Mitchell’s frustration and potential departure is not the first leadership casualty to the peace process. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas threatened his resignation last year due to the peace process’ stagnant state, but he has yet to step down. At the time, many analysts questioned Abbas’ intentions and suspected the Palestinian leader was trying to boost his approval ratings and lure concessions from Israel and the United States because both countries fear a more radical candidate could replace Abbas at the helm.
As I’ve written about extensively, there is enough blame with the peace process to go around. As a quick recap, Israel continues construction in and around Jerusalem and is effectively determining the borders of a future Palestinian state that would provide Israel with hotly disputed areas, such as the entirety of the holy city. Roadblocks in the West Bank and the virtual blockade on the Gaza Strip continue to fuel anti-Israel sentiments in the territories and do not help bolster an independent Palestinian economy.
Palestinians are not fostering a viable and effective security apparatus and the Gaza Strip remains a hot bed for terrorist activity. Abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit remains in captivity after three and half years and terrorists stoke fears that more soldiers and civilians will be killed and kidnapped.
The Obama administration has failed to use its clout to emit concessions from relevant parties. Israel agreed to a watered down settlement freeze and the Palestinians remain a divided people. The U.S. government has resisted using economic and assistance penalties to the parties and continues to provide hundreds of millions of dollars to both sides, including a major investment in rebuilding the Gaza Strip and standing up Palestinian budget shortfalls, not to mention funds to the United Nations’ refugee program and military support to Israel.