Praise for Mitchell from IPF

Capital J

By Eric Fingerhut · January 22, 2009

Two senior advisers to the dovish Israel Policy Forum had high praise for Barack Obama's reported selection of George Mitchell as a Middle East envoy.

In an IPF conference call Wednesday morning, Tom Dine, a onetime executive director of AIPAC, called the former U.S. senator "first-rate" and "first-class" and said he had "all the faith in his fairness and his ability to persevere." Dine, who said he knew Mitchell both from his time at AIPAC and as a staffer on Capitol Hill, said he felt Mitchel would see his role as pursuing a broad "Arab-Israel" agreement and not just a Israel-Palestinian one.

Former U.S. ambassador to Israel Sam Lewis said Mitchell was a "superb choice not just because of his record but his temperment."

"He has remarkably thick skin," said Lewis, pointing to his role in the Irish peace talks.