George Mitchell is no stranger to difficult or high-profile jobs. He enjoyed a productive career in the U.S. Senate, brokered the Northern Ireland peace accord and led a widely praised investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs in major league baseball. None of that prepared him for the task of bringing Israelis and Palestinians together for peace talks. He tried diligently, but was unable to do so. After two years of almost ceaseless travel in the region, Mitchell will leave the job to others. He resigned Friday as the Obama administration's special envoy to the Mideast.
Mitchell's decision to leave the post is not entirely a surprise - he'd indicated that he would serve only two years in the post - but it is an indication of the difficulty the Obama administration and others face in attempting to broker peace in the region. If a man of Mitchell's formidable skills and reputation - he won the respect of all parties and individuals in the region - can't make progress in two years, who or what will it take to produce a breakthrough in the Mideast?
Mitchell's resignation should not change the Obama administration's focus on the Middle East. "The president's commitment," White House spokesman Jay Carney said Friday, "remains as firm as it was when he took office. This is a hard issue, an extraordinary hard issue." Mitchell, no doubt, would second the latter statement.
Recent events underscore the difficulty the United States and other nations face in brokering a Mideast peace accord. Pro-democracy protests and changes in government have altered the regional dynamic, making traditional approaches to peace talks problematic. So do shifting allegiances and alliances.
The recent pact between Hamas and Fatah, longtime enemies, to share control of Palestinian government complicates matters. Upheavals like the one that removed Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, a longtime U.S. ally and a generally reliable partner in the quest for peace, from power no doubt will create an opportunity for new leaders and policies to emerge in the region.
That process, no doubt, will be more difficult without Mitchell's counsel. The work continues, though. Obama plans to speak at the State Department next Thursday about events and developments in the Mideast. Both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and King Abdullah II of Jordan are scheduled to visit Washington in the next couple of weeks. Those visits and the conversations that ensue should provide some indication of the approach the administration will take to Mideast talks in the wake of Mitchell's resignation.
There's no reason to expect major change in policy. The president wants to bring peace to the region in a way that protects Israeli sovereignty and that provides a foundation for Palestinian statehood. Mitchell's resignation and his inability to bring Palestinians and Israelis together is a reminder, though, of how difficult that task will be.