George Mitchell: “That is a matter of some dispute. Some contend the administration does have the power to do so, and so that event could…”

I think it's unfair and unwise. Think for a moment of what Senator McConnell did. He persuaded 96 percent of the Republicans in the Senate to vote for a bill that had the support of only 17 percent of the American people.

I think both sides are calculating their gains and losses and I think fairly soon the time will come when they will coincide in deciding that it's in their interest to end this round of the conflict.

I think he's confronted with the realities now. You can say anything you want on the campaign trail. You can promise anything you want. But when you confront the hard realities, when you're in office, when you get information that makes it…

I think we do have an obligation to do that because the United States is the indispensable party to any possible resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.