US special Mideast envoy George Mitchell is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Thursday. He will be meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and perhaps most relevant, with incoming Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

On Friday, Mitchell will travel to Ramallah to meet with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen).

Mitchell’s second visit since President Barak Obama took office comes a number of days ahead of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is scheduled to arrive next week. His visit is viewed as a prepatory one, setting the stage for Clinton’s arrival.

Media reports point to an atmosphere of concern on Capitol Hill with the likely formation of a right-wing government in Israel, a coalition that may exhibit less of a willingness to respond to White House dictates and continued unilateral concessions to the PA, which to date have yielded little more than increased terror.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)