Reply #7: that is the title the author of the article gave it...although I certainly don't agree

[Douglas Carpenter]

http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14733

that President Obama set up Mitchell to fail. The President has a global status that would very much want Mitchell to succeed. But if Likud comes to power in the February 10 election, it will be with coalition partners even more intransigent than Netanyahu - circumstances beyond the control of the President will make any success extremely unlikely.

Unfortunately the likelihood of a transparently extremist Israeli government now appears almost a certainty:

"However Livni's ruling Kadima party may suffer a setback in the upcoming elections, with weekend polls giving the centrist party 24-25 seats, against 29 in the current parliament.

Netanyahu's hawkish Likud party is tipped to head the next government in a right-wing coalition including the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, which has advocated the expulsion of Arab citizens.

In coalition with Jewish religious parties and Yisrael Beitenu, a Likud-led bloc would secure a majority of 62-63 seats, Friday's polls said."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g1ducHrywPiOO6svu1qYFsiefACQ