Chief Negotiator Yitzhak Molcho Resigns

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s chief negotiator and personal envoy Yitzchak Molcho resigned his office on Wednesday.

Molcho served ten years without remuneration and, among other tasks, led the Israeli negotiating team in the 2013-2014 peace talks with the Palestinians. Former U.S. State Department official Aaron David Miller, who worked with Molcho in Mideast peacemaking, tweeted that he is “a man of infinite patience.”

In a letter accepting Molcho’s resignation, Netanyahu said that he and other 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.

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.”

Media speculation had it that he will be succeeded by another Netanyahu confidante, former director general of the Foreign Ministry, Dore Gold.

Sources close to him said the outgoing envoy decided to step down due to weariness, in particular weariness of personal attacks. His announcement also came a day before the state is scheduled to respond to a High Court petition demanding Molcho to suspend himself over an alleged conflict of interest in the German submarine case. His legal partner, David Shimron, is being investigated for alleged corruption in multi-billion-shekel naval deals with the German shipbuilding company ThyssenKrupp.