WITH more of a sigh of relief than any fanfare, former prime minister Tony Blair stood down last week from his grandiose position as peace envoy to the Middle East.
It is tempting to ask if anyone will really notice. Appointed in 2007 as the lead diplomat to the Quartet Group representing the UN, the EU, the US and Russia, Blair's task was to "mobilise international assistance, address the rule of law and promote Palestinian economic development".
Basically, that meant dealing with the peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians and making it work.
On all counts he failed and it is safe to say that his absence will not be felt by anyone in the Middle East - apart from Israeli politicians on the right who warmed to his steady condemnation of the dangers posed by Iran. When Blair arrived in the job it was hoped that he would bring with him some of the experience gained in the Northern Ireland peace process of the late 1990s but instead he carried too much baggage from his role as a leader who had aided and abetted the illegal US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
That was an onerous halter around his neck and it prevented him from being taken seriously.
Arabs could never forgive him for that lack of judgement and he compounded the error by failing to criticise Israel for inflicting heavy civilian casualties in Gaza. And then there was the cost and extravagance of his expensively maintained headquarters in Jerusalem. When there, he had very little to say.
The people of Israel and Palestine deserve better than that. If Blair is to be replaced by the Quartet, it must be with a politician who understands the many nuances of the Middle East and comes with a reputation for strict neutrality. As it is, Tony Blair's only legacy is a region riven by civil war and threatened by the extremists of Islamic State.
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