U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell arrived in the Middle East on Monday 
Mitchell will immediately start talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli government officials, and will hold talks on Tuesday in the West Bank city of Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The U.S. envoy’s visit to the region came after the U.S. administration decided to halt talks with Israel over freezing settlement constructions in the Palestinian territories as a condition to resume the direct peace talks, which were suspended on Oct. 2.
On the eve of Mitchell’s visit to the region, Netanyahu welcomed the U.S. decision to abandon a U.S. request from the Israeli government to halt settlement constructions as a condition to resume the suspended direct peace talks with the Palestinians.
Mitchell’s visit also comes several days before the Arab League (AL) follow up committee convenes in Cairo to decide the fate of the peace process and to study other options in case of the peace talks failure within the coming period.
Israeli and Palestinian envoys held separate talks on the weekend in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, where they debated ways of bringing the peace talks back on track to save the Middle East peace process.
Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath said that the expected results of Mitchell’s visit and the talks he will hold with both the Israelis and the Palestinians “won’t be so fruitful,” adding that he doesn’t expect much from this visit “as long as the Israeli side hasn’t changed its stances.”
Palestinian observers believe that all indications show that the United States is pushing forward within the upcoming three months towards holding indirect peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians over permanent status issues. However, Israeli settlement would remain the major obstacle.
The Palestinians stressed that it is impossible to hold any talks with Israel amid continuation of settlement in the Palestinian territories, including east Jerusalem. Israel within this period had approved several projects of constructing more units in the area of Jerusalem.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official, told reporters in the aftermath of the PLO executive committee meeting chaired by Abbas that “any seriousness in the peace process needs a real freeze of settlement.”
“Having also a clear international reference that include a recognition of the borders of the Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital would make the peace process more serious and more real,” said Abed Rabbo, who held Israel responsible for the consequences of the current situation.
Hilary Clinton had stated that Washington is still committed to the peace process despite the impasse. She encouraged the two sides to treat substantial issues through indirect peace negotiations led by the U.S. administration.
The United States had in May this year, sponsored proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians. However, the six months proximity talks between the two sides did not lead to any fruitful result, where it was decided to go through direct talks that were launched in Washington on Sept. 2.
However, the direct talks were suspended by the Palestinians, one month after it had been launched, due to the Israeli government’s refusal to extend a 10-month moratorium over freezing settlement constructions in the Palestinian territories that ended on Sept. 26.
The Palestinians had threatened that if Israel keeps insisting not to freeze settlement constructions, they would use other diplomatic options, mainly demanding the UN Security Council to recognize an independent Palestinian state. Israel warned the Palestinians not to carry out such actions.