Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Saturday remarked that Israel and Palestine missed a historic opportunity for peace after the 2008 Gaza Ceasefire and accused attacks by Hamas as the reason behind the failed peace opportunity. While stressing that he is not a political supporter of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Olmert maintained that the attacks by Hamas were unsolicited and sabotaged the peace opportunity between the two countries.
He emphasised that peace could be attained through the Israeli government's willingness to make essential compromises, enabling the establishment of a Palestinian state through a mutually agreed-upon framework. He further highlighted that Palestinians will have the courage and the leadership to come along.
Olmert was present at the Firstpost Defence Summit 2024 where he stated: "There was no confrontation, no exchange of hostilities or violence on the border."
"In 2005, I was privileged to be vice prime minister in the Israeli government which pulled out completely from Gaza... It is different in the West Bank, but in Gaza, we didn't occupy one centimetre. And the day after we pulled out, they started to shoot rockets on Israeli townships across the border, and it didn't stop until the seventh of October when Israel finally decided to counter-offensive in a very massive manner," he said.
Olmert further stated: "I think that there was a historic opportunity in 2008, beginning of 2009 to resolve the historical conflict between us and the Palestinians, which is the basis of everything that will develop in the Middle East. And this was when I presented, as the Prime Minister of Israel, to the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, a peace plan on the basis of a two-state solution."
He claimed: "This was presented to the Palestinians at the end of 2008, beginning of 2009, officially by the prime minister of the State of Israel on behalf of the State of Israel, and it was the maximum that any time in the future the Palestinians will be able to get within the framework of an agreement."
On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israeli cities during which it killed 1200 people and abducted 220 others, some of whom were subsequently released during a temporary ceasefire. Meanwhile, the Hamas-run authorities in Gaza claimed that the Israeli offensive that followed killed nearly 30,000 people in Gaza.
Olmert stated that the 2008 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Egypt, was implemented on June 19, 2008, and was a six-month agreement for the Gaza area. It involved a two-state solution based on 1967 borders, with the Arab side of Jerusalem designated as the capital of the Palestinian state.
He further added that the longstanding refugee issue in the Middle East could have been addressed through the Arab League Peace Initiative. This initiative was accepted by the Arab League on the 28th of November 2002 and was reconfirmed on the 28th of November 2017 in Riyadh. However, the Palestinians refused to accept it amid ongoing confrontations.
"And now we have this terrible event that has shaken the foundations of the Middle East. How can we achieve peace?" Olmert said.
"At present, the main obstacle for a comprehensive rearrangement to the entire Middle East is the lack of will on both sides," he added.