Mitchell Arrives in Israel, Gaza Terrorists Fire Rocket
U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell launches first round of shuttle diplomacy with Netanyahu government. Gaza terrorists fire rocket at Israel.

by Hana Levi Julian, Arutz Sheva
April 15, 2009

Gaza terrorists fired a short range rocket at Israel Wednesday afternoon, after two weeks of calm. The rocket fell near the Gaza security fence, within the Eshkol Regional Council. No one was hurt and no damage was reported.

The attack came a short while before U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell's arrival in Israel. Mitchell has returned to the region and is making the rounds on his latest shuttle diplomacy effort to rejuvenate support for the flagging Israel-Palestinian Authority negotiations. He arrived in Israel Wednesday evening and is scheduled to hold his first official meeting with the Netanyahu government. The meeting is seen by both sides as pivotal as a means of establishing a baseline for future talks.

It will be Mitchell’s job to present to the Netanyahu administration the formal positions of President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton vis a vis the Israel-PA situation. He will also reportedly be listening closely to what government officials have to say, and is expected to bring back to Washington a full report on the new government’s agenda.

Recent statements by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman that the government may not be bound by the agreements reached in Annapolis in November 2007 have raised eyebrows in Washington.

In addition, concern is rising over Prime Minister Netanyahu's reluctance to refer to a "two-state solution" in any language used to discuss the Israel-PA situation; instead, the new prime minister has preferred to use the less specific term, "peace process."

Although this is Mitchell’s first trip to the region since the Netanyahu government was installed, he has been here twice before since his appointment as special envoy to the region, both times during former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s tenure.

Mitchell was spending Tuesday in Morocco. He planned to fly to Israel for a meeting with Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday night after the Passover holiday concludes.

He is scheduled to meet on Thursday with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, and Kadima chairwoman and Knesset opposition leader MK Tzipi Livni.

Mitchell will travel to Ramallah on Friday to meet with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad as well. He will then travel to Cairo, Riyadh and other Arab cities in the region.

Jordanian King Abdullah II, meanwhile, is scheduled to meet in Washington with President Barack Obama and other top U.S. officials on April 21, the first Arab head of state to visit the Obama White House.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is expected to arrive in Washington for talks sometime in mid-May, and has been invited by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to meet in June for talks in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.