Tony Blair‘s effectiveness as an international envoy for the Middle East is in doubt amid signs that he lacks full domestic, let alone international support for the role.
Mr Blair‘s is set to be confirmed, possibly as early as today, as a representative for the Quartet group - the European Union, Russia the United Nations and the US - with a brief to bolster the governance of the Palestinian territories.
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Gordon Brown, incoming prime minister, has said publicly he is "relaxed" about Mr Blair‘s new role. But privately the chancellor is understood to be unhappy about the appointment, although keen to avoid a row with Mr Blair before tomorrow‘s handover.
The Foreign Office, which was not consulted about Mr Blair‘s appointment, is also believed to be irritated. At the same time, there are serious misgivings among EU foreign policy officials and in much of the Arab world, where Mr Blair is discredited by his role in the war in Iraq. Even before the conflict, Britain struggled to wield influence to bring about a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.
From the Treasury, Mr Brown has sought to craft a distinctive approach to the Middle East peace process, focusing narrowly on the need to salvage the Palestinian economy as the foundation of a lasting solution.
Ed Balls, Treasury minister and Mr Brown‘s closest ally, and Jon Cunliffe, the second most senior official at the Treasury, have spent nearly two years working on detailed recovery plan for the Palestinian economy - a sign of its political significance in the Brown camp.
In a speech last week, Mr Balls set out much of the detailed thinking behind the strategy, saying there was "no chance of a lasting political settlement with either security or justice for the Israeli or Palestinian people while political instability combines with high unemployment, rapidly rising poverty and economic collapse in Gaza and the West Bank".
However, he stopped short of spelling out concrete proposals in view of the violence and turmoil in Gaza.
Now Mr Brown‘s allies fear the territory they have carefully staked out is to be occupied by Mr Blair, who will be charged by the Quartet with helping Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, build up the institutions of a future state.
Some government figures question whether Mr Blair, more accustomed to high-level diplomacy, is the right man to lead the painstaking work of institution-building.
There are also doubts in Whitehall about Mr Blair‘s ability to act as honest broker in the region when his principal backers are the US and Israel, although Mr Abbas has welcomed his involvement.
By Ben Hall,Political Correspondent