JERUSALEM: Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered to swap Israeli territory near the Gaza Strip and West Bank in exchange for settlement blocs in the West Bank, the Haaretz newspaper reported Thursday, in the most detailed account of the former Israeli leader’s proposed peace offer to the Palestinians.
The Palestinians did not respond to the September 2008 proposal, submitted at a time when Olmert’s ability to negotiate a peace deal was compromised by corruption allegations that eventually forced him to step down. Talks broke down after Israel’s war against Gaza militants a year ago and never resumed.
Since leaving office in March, Olmert has said he offered the Palestinians unprecedented concessions, including a broad withdrawal from almost all of the West Bank and shared control of Jerusalem.
Olmert has also said he offered the Palestinians small pieces of Israeli territory in exchange for keeping major Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
In all, Olmert proposed ceding Israeli territory equivalent to 5.8 percent of the West Bank for a slightly larger piece of the West Bank where 75 percent of the 300,000 Jewish settlers live. The rest of the settlers would be evacuated under his proposal.
Among the Israeli territory he offered was nearly 39 square miles near the tiny Gaza Strip and nearly 88 square miles close to the West Bank, much of it from the Judean desert near the West Bank’s southern end, Haaretz said, citing unidentified sources familiar with Olmert’s proposals.
Olmert also proposed a road link through Israel to allow Palestinians to travel between the West Bank and Gaza, which lie on opposite sides of Israel. That highway would have remained sovereign Israeli territory but there would have been no Israeli presence there, Haaretz said.
