Olmert: Israel Should Withdraw from Most of West Bank & Golan Heights

Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has told an Israeli newspaper that Israel should withdraw from nearly all territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war in return for peace with the Palestinians and Syria. Olmert told Israel’s largest newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth: “I am saying) what no previous Israeli leader has ever said: we should withdraw from almost all of the territories, including in East Jerusalem and in the Golan Heights.” More than 450,000 Jewish settlers live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, and a further 20,000 in the Golan Heights. Olmert said that traditional Israeli defense strategists had learned nothing from past experiences and that they seemed stuck in the considerations of the 1948 war of independence. He said, “With them, it is all about tanks and land and controlling territories and controlled territories and this hilltop and that hilltop. All these things are worthless.” Olmert recently resigned over corruption allegations but remains prime minister until a new government is approved by parliament. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki criticized Olmert for waiting until now to call for an end to the settlements.

Riyad al-Maliki: “We wish we heard this personal opinion when Olmert was prime minister, not after he resigned. I think it is a very important commitment, but it came too late. We hope this commitment will be fulfilled by the new Israeli government.”

[Democracy Now!]

WOW! He would be the last person I would expect this statement from. I guess God given conscience make better people of us all, if we listen.

Maybe, or maybe he finally feels free to say what he wants since he's on his way out the door. But, yeah, what a shocking thing to say to the world. It's what I've suspected for a long time, but for an Israeli leader to say it out loud is quite something.

What will Israel get in exchange? Are the Arab nations willing to recognize Israel as a nation? If that is the case than giving back the West Bank would be a good thing.

He never said anything about Israel getting anything. He said they should give the land back.

The idea is, Israel would get to live in peace.

Whose idea? Israel's or the Arab nations? Unless Arab nations recognize Israel's right to exist as a nation there will be no peace.

Did you read the article? It was Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, who said it.

I read what was posted. I don't see a link.

Facts are what facts are. The Arab nations have sworn to the annihilation of the Jews. In exchange for land, Israel needs Arab nations to recognize their right to exist as a nation. If that doesn't happen, there will be no peace.

Well, OK, but it was the Israeli prime minister who was suggesting they give the land back in order to have peace. So maybe he's trying to annihilate his own people, I don't know..... It seems a very strange thing for him to say out loud, at any rate.

I agree with giving the land back but remember they didn't take the land from the Palestinians. They took the land from Jordan during the war of 1967. So instead of giving it back to Jordan, Israel would be giving it to the Palestinians. I think that is a good idea but only if Arab nations, like Jordan, officially recognize Israel as a nation.

He was not talking about that, Shane. It's well known fact around the world that Israel is displacing Palestinians by means of annexed settlements. This is what Olmert is talking about here. There will not be any peace process unless this expansionary policy is ceased. If you look at the current map... the Palestine is just isolated islands of land surrounded by Israeli settlements to which Palestinians are banned from. There are highways that lead to these settlements that Palestinians are not allowed to travel by.

Again, it would be foolish to give any more land back without at least one Arab nation, like Jordan, recognizing Israel as a nation.

I believe that he is conveying what most Israeli's want. The only problem is that they want the other arab countries to recognize them as a state but that is not going to happen.

pk