U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed on Friday that special Middle East envoy Martin Indyk has tendered his resignation.

In a statement, Kerry said that Indyk would return to his position as vice president and director of foreign policy at The Brookings Institution think-tank in Washington but would continue to serve as special adviser on Mideast peace issues.

“Ambassador Indyk has invested decades of his extraordinary career to the mission of helping Israelis and Palestinians achieve a lasting peace. It’s the cause of Martin’s career, and I’m grateful for the wisdom and insight he’s brought to our collective efforts,” Kerry said.

“The United States remains committed not just to the cause of peace, but to resuming the process when the parties find a path back to serious negotiations,” he added.

News of Indyk’s resignation came earlier Friday and the announcement was made nearly two months after U.S.-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) failed.

Indyk’s role as an “honest broker” was viewed critically by many Israelis, due to his position on the executive board of the radical-left New Israel Fund, which notoriously provides funding to numerous anti-Israel NGOs.

More recently, Indyk was embroiled in further controversy, after being accused of engaging in a “nasty” anti-Israel tirade at a bar following an address to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Indyk denied making the comments attributed to him, which reportedly included placing all the blame for the collapse of talks on Israel and exonerating the PA completely.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)