September 22, 2009
Reiterating much of Obama’s earlier statement, [Special Envoy for Middle East Peace Goerge] 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,” Mitchell cited Obama. “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.
