WASHINGTON: US Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell announced his resignation Friday, throwing a new question mark over the Obama administration's failed effort to restart direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians. US President Barack Obama called Mitchell “one of the finest public servants that our nation has ever had” and said his deputy, David Hale, would step in as acting peace envoy after Mitchell's departure. In his brief resignation letter, Mitchell said he had already worked beyond the two years he originally intended and would therefore step down effective next Friday. “I trust this will provide sufficient time for an effective transition,” he said in the letter released by the White House. Mitchell's exit coincides with a closely watched visit to the White House by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next Friday, one day after Obama delivers a speech on his Middle East strategy as political turmoil upends decades of US policy in the region. Obama is not expected to offer fresh ideas to tackle the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Mitchell, 77, had become a symbol of his administration's frustrated ambitions in that arena. A former US senator who helped broker the Northern Ireland peace deal, Mitchell was one of the first members named to Obama's foreign policy team. He shuttled between Washington and Middle East capitals in an unsuccessful bid to launch new negotiations. There were glimmers of hope. Obama himself presided over the resumption of direct peace talks in September, but the negotiations broke down within weeks over Jewish settlement construction on occupied land in the West Bank. Faced with a deadlock, the US in December scrapped efforts to relaunch direct peace talks. Mitchell has not visited the region since. Obama has recently made changes to his Mideast policy team and nominated Daniel Shapiro, who has helped shape the response to the Middle East upheaval, to be the new US ambassador to Israel.
