(CNSNews.com) – President Obama on Tuesday told the protagonists in one of the most intractable conflicts of the last century to “disentangle” themselves from history and “take risks for peace.”

“It’s difficult to disentangle ourselves from history, but we must do so,” U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell quoted Obama as telling Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas. “The only reason to hold office is to get things done.”

The president summoned Israeli and P.A. leaders to a summit on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York to chide them on slow progress, but there was little sign afterward that either side was nearer agreement on the thorny issue of Israeli settlements...