LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Tony Blair: United States
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In 2006, Blair was heavily criticised for his failure to call for a ceasefire in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, with members of his cabinet openly criticising Israel. Jack Straw, the Leader of the House of Commons and former Foreign Secretary stated that Israel's actions risked destabilising all of Lebanon. Kim Howells, a minister in the Foreign Office, stated that it was "very difficult to understand the kind of military tactics used by Israel", "These are not surgical strikes but have instead caused death and misery amongst innocent civilians.". The Observer newspaper claimed that at a cabinet meeting before Blair left for a summit with President George Bush on 28 July 2006, a significant number of ministers pressured Blair to publicly criticise Israel over the scale of deaths and destruction in Lebanon.[97]
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As for the EU's major problem of recent days, the ratification of the European Constitution, the matter will depend on Tony Blair's successful activity during the upcoming six months. If the issue of the integration unification becomes more prestigious internationally, if the economic situation in the EU becomes more favorable for its citizens, especially for those who reside in the founding states of the union, another attempt to ratify the constitution may bring positive results.
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It fell to Blair to broker a deal on the EU budget during the UK's Presidency of the European Union during the latter half of 2005. Early international opinion, particularly in the French press, suggested that Blair held a very strong opening position partly on account of the concurrence of British presidencies of the EU and G8. However, early in the UK's six-month term the 7 July London bombings distracted political attention from the EU despite some ambitious early statements about Blair's agenda. Domestically, Blair faced further distractions from European affairs including a resurgent Conservative Party under its newly-elected leader David Cameron, and assessments of the British presidency's achievements under Blair have been lukewarm in spite of some diplomatic success including a last-minute budget deal. The most controversial result was an agreement to increase British contributions to the EU development budget for new member countries, which effectively reduced the UK rebate by 20%.
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Blair served as prime minister from 1997 to June 2007, leader of the Labor Party from 1994 to 2007 and member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007. On the day he stepped down as prime minister, he was appointed official Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East on behalf of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia.
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The World's Matthew Bell reports on what could be Tony Blair's next job. Britain's soon-to-be former prime minister could become Middle East peace envoy representing the so called Quartet. That's the group formed by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.
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In their daylong meeting Friday, Bush and Blair made a general pledge to maintain the special tie between the United States and Britain despite polar differences in their political stations. Bush departed from his predecessor and Blair friend, Bill Clinton, saying he would take a hands-off approach to peace efforts in Northern Ireland.
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