Martin Indyk, the chief US negotiator between the Israelis and Palestinians, resigned Friday in a further sign of the collapse of the "peace process".

Martin Indyk, the chief US negotiator between the Israelis and Palestinians, resigned Friday in a further sign of the collapse of the "peace process".

Less than a year after Secretary of State John Kerry tapped the veteran diplomat as part of a "major US push for a peace deal", Indyk quit to return to his position at the Brookings Institution think tank.

Kerry credited Indyk with playing a "vital role" in the "peace process", which the top US diplomat insisted was not dead.