MITCHELL REPORT

Report submitted in May 2001 by the Sharm al-Shaykh Fact-Finding Committee headed by U.S. envoy George Mitchell, which was dispatched to Israel and the Palestinian territories in late 2000 to look into the causes of the al-Aqsa Intifada. This mission's aim was to assess security issues in the Palestinian territories, as had been arranged at the Sharm al-Shaykh Summit of 16–17 October 2000. In addition to Mitchell, a former U.S. senator who was a member of the American Task Force for Lebanon (ATFL), the committee included Suleyman Demirel, ninth president of the Republic of Turkey; Thorbjoern Jagland, minister of foreign affairs of Norway; Warren B. Rudman, former U.S. senator; and Javier Solana, high european representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, European Union.

The report called for an immediate and unconditional halt to the violence and the establishment of a six-week cooling-off period, followed by confidence-building measures leading to resumption of negotiations in view of a final resolution of the status of the Palestinian territories. It stated, "The Sharon visit did not cause the Al-Aqsa Initifada. But it was poorly timed and the provocative effect should have been foreseen."

An unconditional cease-fire being unobtainable, the U.S. CIA director, George Tenet, tried to arrange a cease-fire for 13 June, which would serve as a week's test before the Mitchell Report was put into effect. The Tenet Plan was based on two principles: the immediate resumption of security cooperation and withdrawal of Israeli forces to the positions they occupied on 27 September 2000. At the insistence of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the plan assumed a period of seven days without attacks as a condition for its initiation; and since no such period occurred, neither the plan nor the Mitchell Report recommendations could be implemented. By March 2002, when Sharon agreed to forego the week of quiet, Israeli forces had invaded Palestinian territories and the Palestinians were no longer willing to negotiate.

SEE ALSO Aqsa Intifada, al-;Sharm al-Shaykh Summit.