[ad_1]
It will only take a few months to reach an agreement with the Palestinians if Israel returns to its two-state proposal of 2008, and the only opponents to this plan are Benjamin Netanyahu and his entourage, said former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
"There is no doubt in my mind that Netanyahu's time is over. He left," Olmert told i24NEWS on Friday that the current prime minister was missing "moral courage" table similar to the one the government introduced a decade ago.
Read more
Olmert, who ruled Israel from 2006 to 2009, proposed the near total withdrawal of Israeli forces from the West Bank and East Jerusalem populated by Arabs, placing his old city under international trusteeship. He also proposed to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to allow Israel to keep a small part of the Palestinian territory, housing the main Jewish settlements. In return, Tel Aviv was to yield roughly the same area to the Palestinian Authority.
Palestinian leaders rejected the plan at the time, but Olmert believes that if such an agreement reappears today, things would be completely different. It is "certain" that the Palestinians will sign the same model now.
"I know Palestinians. Many of them think that their failure to sign an agreement with me towards the end of 2008 was a historical mistake, " The former party leader Kadima said. He added that the only opponents of such an agreement would be "Extremists" like Netanyahu and his allies who reject the two-state solution.
Ehud Olmert is a controversial figure in Israeli politics. He was sentenced to six years in prison for corruption and corruption, but was released on parole last year after serving a 16-month sentence. In the mid-2000s, he defended the unilateral disengagement from Gaza – the idea hated by the current government, which said withdrawing from Gaza exposes Israel to terrorist threats. During his television interview, Olmert insisted that withdrawing from Gaza was the right call.
It is wrong to "exaggerate" Hazards from Hamas-launched missiles from Gaza, said Olmert, citing the success of the Iron Dome air defense system.
"The rocket attacks are very unpleasant but they pose no strategic threat to the state of Israel."
According to the former prime minister, it is crucial that Tel Aviv "Separated from the Palestinians" and have borders "Recognized by the international community." An agreement with the Palestinians would be "Radically change the environment" in the Middle East, and allow Israel to flourish, "Olmert concluded.
You think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
