Netanyahu’s chief negotiator and personal envoy resigns
In letter thanking Yitzhak Molcho, PM says Israelis will be 'greatly appreciative' of his service when day comes for his contributions to be revealed
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief negotiator and personal envoy Yitzchak Molcho officially resigned from his duties Wednesday after 10 years of service.
In a letter accepting Molcho’s resolution, Netanyahu told Molcho that he and other government ministers were “deeply appreciative” of his work.
“It is too early to reveal all of your actions on behalf of the county, but I am sure that when the moment comes, Israeli citizens will greatly appreciate your contribution,” he wrote.
In his resignation letter to Netanyahu, Molcho thanked the prime minister “for allowing me to serve the country under your confident leadership and for the trust you have placed in me in doing so.”
Molcho, who served as a negotiator on Netanyahu’s behalf during the 2013-2014 Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, was said to have based his request to step down out on a feeling of fulfillment, Channel 2 said.
However, the announcement also came a day before the state is set to provide its response to a High Court of Justice petition calling on Molcho to suspend himself over an alleged conflict of interest. His legal partner, David Shimron, is being investigated in a probe known as “Case 3000” for alleged corruption and bribery involved in multi-billion-shekel naval deals with the German shipbuilding company ThyssenKrupp.
Molcho’s confidants told Channel 2 that the prime minister’s attorney had simply grown tired over the years and that his weariness was compounded by incessant personal attacks, despite his work being on a volunteer basis.
Former US State Department official Aaron David Miller, who worked with Molcho during a number Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, tweeted that he is “a man of infinite patience.”
Love Itzig. A man of infinite patience who loved to tell well-intentioned Americans not to overreach.
— Aaron David Miller (@aarondmiller2) October 25, 2017
He will likely be replaced by the former director general of the Foreign Ministry, Dore Gold, the Walla news site reported.
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