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It has been almost a full year since former US ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk took a leave of absence from his job at the Brookings Institute to take on the role as Special Envoy to the Mideast, and now he is done.
Indyk took the post last July at the request of Secretary of State John Kerry. Kerry had just re-booted peace talk negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, stating that his goal was to reach a settlement within 9 months. Almost exactly one year later talks are non-existent, so Indyk is giving up.
March was a turning point in the negations between Israel and the Palestinians when both sides claimed the other side was responsible for the breakdown in talks. Then a unity government was formed by the Palestinians with the terrorist organization Hamas, creating a situation in which the Israelis would be forced to negotiate with terrorists if they wanted peace talks to proceed. Israel, which says they will not negotiate with terrorist organizations or other groups that have partnerships with terrorist organizations, was forced to refuse to deal with the Palestinians as long as Hamas is part of their government.
An additional nail in the coffin of peace talks was hammered in two weeks ago when members of Hamas kidnapped three Israeli teenagers on their way home from school.
Indyk is 62, and took a leave of absence from his job as vice president and foreign policy director of Brookings. At the time he took the position Indyk thanked Kerry and President Obama for “entrusting me with the mission of helping you take this breakthrough and turn it into a full-fledged Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.”
“It is a daunting and humbling challenge, but one that I cannot desist from,” Indyk said at the time of his appointment.
