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Former U.S. Envoy: Mideast Peace Stalemate Could Lead to West Bank Violence
(Ha'aretz) Barak Ravid - Speaking at London's Chatham House, former U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell declared that he is disappointed and pessimistic in view of the impasse in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. "Order and personal security [in the West Bank] have been established in a way that never was previously....The problem is that that effort cannot be sustained in the absence of progress, or at least the hope of progress on the political front. It will break down internally on the Palestinian side, and it will break down in relations with the Israelis." Mitchell also criticized the Palestinian Authority's responses to American efforts to renew negotiations with Israel. "They refused to enter into the negotiations until nine months of the 10 [-month freeze] had elapsed," Mitchell said. "Once they entered, they then said [the freeze] was indispensable. What had been worse than useless a few months before then became indispensable."