Laura Rozen sizes up the role of Mideast envoy George Mitchell in the “indirect talks” between the Israelis and the Palestinians:

“No terms of reference [for negotiations], no clear mechanism or modality, no timetable, no list of issues,” have been agreed by the parties, observed former Israeli consul general Alon Pinkas, implying the Herculean effort to get such a substantively thin agreement was almost comical.

Yes, that is a dense, wonky paragraph economically conveying subtle meaning, written elegantly, and you read it in Politico.

If there’s a criticism here, it’s of Pinkas’ evident impatience — or maybe the general expectation that Mitchell has to show results now now now. Would that anyone could, but confidence-building on an issue this entrenched is a prolonged challenge, and then comes all the really hard work. That’s why the process is so important: it builds trust, or, if it’s allowed to, it erodes it, accelerating or deferring a painful series of compromises. The point is that no one should think that a deal is imminent. Shimon Peres put it perfectly in his just-released remarks with Vice President Biden: “Even in Hollywood, the happy end is at the end; you don’t begin negotiations with the happy end.”

I am trying so hard not to make the obvious innuendo that I’m just going to give this over to Jeremih, the U.S.’s Special Representative For Expectations Management And Stamina For Mideast Peace.