The two paragraphs come at the end of the New York Times‘ article about George Mitchell’s decision to step down from his position as U.S. envoy to the Middle East:
“What needs to change is Israeli behavior,” said Nabil Shaath, who heads the foreign affairs department of Fatah, the main party of the Palestinian Authority, in seeking to explain the stalled peace endeavor. “The man was not given any support and he failed,” he added of Mr. Mitchell, speaking by telephone. “I don’t really blame him. He found himself without any initiative or ability to move ahead. He found himself doing a futile job. I liked the man. He is honest and hard-working, with lots of experience.”
Zalman Shoval, a special envoy of Mr. Netanyahu, who focuses on relations with the United States, said Mr. Mitchell “made a major effort to try to move peace between Israel and the Palestinians forward but, at the end of the day, his efforts were undermined by the Palestinians’ refusal to engage in meaningful negotiations. But he deserves the gratitude of Israel and the Palestinians for his efforts.”
Now, I am one who believes that the Palestinians have given up almost everything and the Israelis almost nothing in these past 60-plus years since Israel became a state in 1948, but… just on the level of ironic metaphor, could these two paragraphs be any better?
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