A White House envoy planned to begin a new Middle East peace mission on Thursday that could determine whether Israel and the United States sink deeper into discord over Jewish settlement policy, Reuters reported. George Mitchell's visit to occupied Al-Quds and the West Bank will be his first since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned a month ago from low-profile talks with U.S. President Barack Obama that underscored a rift between the two leaders. Mitchell was due to arrive in Israel later on Thursday, Palestinian officials and diplomatic sources said, in another attempt to revive the peace talks. The Palestinians say they will not attend negotiations with Israel -- indirect, U.S.-mediated talks -- without a settlement freeze in the West Bank and East Al-Quds, territory the Jewish state captured in the 1967 Middle East war. The future of an already strained relationship between Obama and Netanyahu could hinge on the outcome of Mitchell's mission. He was last in the area a month ago, just before Netanyahu's White House talks. "We hope (Mitchell) will have the right formula for resuming proximity talks by having Israel stop settlement activities," Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said. -- SPA
