( Laura Rozen-Politico). US Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell swept into the White House briefing room at the Waldorf accompanied by Assistant Secretary of State Jeff Feltman, senior advisor Mara Rudman, NSC Senior Director on the Middle East Dan Shapiro.
Reiterating much of Obama's earlier statement, Mitchell shared notes Obama said to the two leaders in the meeting. "It's difficult to disentangle ourselves from history but we must do so,The only reason to hold public office is to get things done. We all must take risks for peace."
Asked about U.S. efforts to get Israel to agree to a settlement freeze which seem to have stalled for weeks, Mitchell said, "Our objective from the beginning is the relaunch of negotiations. The actions we asked parties to take are not ends in themselves; they are means to the end, an end we continue to seek" -- the relaunch of permanent status peace talks.
"Neither the Secretary, the President or I, ever said, of any one issue, that [settlements] or any other, that it is a precondition to negotiations," Mitchell added. "What we have said, we want to get into negotiations, we believe the requests we made would if accepted and acted upon, create most favorable conditions available to try to achieve success in those negotiatoins. But we do not believe in preconditions. We do not impose them, and we urge others not to impose preconditions."
The envoy explained Obama told the parties: "It's difficult to disentangle ourselves from history but we must do so. The only reason to hold public office is to get things done. We all must take risks for peace. Peace between Israel and Palestinians is critical to Israel's security and it's necessary for Palestinians to realize their aspirations.""
Mitchell said the negotiations have made significant progress on reducing the areas of disagreement, and the settlement issue was just one area of disagreement. "Our position remains unchanged, we are doing the best we can to achieve the relaunch of negotiations.
Reiterating much of Obama's earlier statement, Mitchell shared notes Obama said to the two leaders in the meeting. "It's difficult to disentangle ourselves from history but we must do so,The only reason to hold public office is to get things done. We all must take risks for peace."
Asked about U.S. efforts to get Israel to agree to a settlement freeze which seem to have stalled for weeks, Mitchell said, "Our objective from the beginning is the relaunch of negotiations. The actions we asked parties to take are not ends in themselves; they are means to the end, an end we continue to seek" -- the relaunch of permanent status peace talks.
"Neither the Secretary, the President or I, ever said, of any one issue, that [settlements] or any other, that it is a precondition to negotiations," Mitchell added. "What we have said, we want to get into negotiations, we believe the requests we made would if accepted and acted upon, create most favorable conditions available to try to achieve success in those negotiatoins. But we do not believe in preconditions. We do not impose them, and we urge others not to impose preconditions."
The envoy explained Obama told the parties: "It's difficult to disentangle ourselves from history but we must do so. The only reason to hold public office is to get things done. We all must take risks for peace. Peace between Israel and Palestinians is critical to Israel's security and it's necessary for Palestinians to realize their aspirations.""
Mitchell said the negotiations have made significant progress on reducing the areas of disagreement, and the settlement issue was just one area of disagreement. "Our position remains unchanged, we are doing the best we can to achieve the relaunch of negotiations.