Olmert offered Abbas Israeli land inside the pre-1967 borders, including areas near Gaza and Beit She’an, as well as the Jordan Valley, in exchange for certain Jewish areas in Judea and Samaria.
In a last-minute attempt to forge an agreement with the Palestinian Authority before he must leave office, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered to give away Israeli land inside the pre-1967 borders, including areas near Gaza and Beit She’an, as well as the Jordan Valley. At his last meeting with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), Olmert nearly signed a final agreement in which whole blocks of Jewish settlements inside the pre-1967 borders would be surrendered to the Arabs in exchange for Jewish areas in Judea and Samaria, IDF Army Radio reported.
According to the Sunday morning report, Olmert conducted a series of secret meetings with Abbas, in which the two came close to signing a complete land-swap deal that would determine the “final” borders of a much smaller State of Israel.
In Olmert’s offer, Israel would give up areas within the 1967 borders, including land in the western Negev adjacent to Gaza and the Porah agricultural area near the northern town of Beit She’an.
In Olmert’s offer, Israel would give up areas within the 1967 borders, including land in the western Negev adjacent to Gaza and the Porah agricultural area near the northern town of Beit She’an.
Olmert also offered to give away the entire Jordan Valley, including the numerous Jewish settlements in it, as well as the land in the Southern Hevron Hills area.
In return, according to the agreement, Israel would be able to retain certain Jewish areas in Judea and Samaria, including the Samaria town of Ariel, Ma’ale Adumim to the east of Jerusalem and the Etzion Bloc of communities southwest of the capital.
The report said that the deal foundered over disagreements over the status of Jerusalem and the so-called “right of return” of Arabs who left Israel in 1948 and 1967. A spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on the negotiations with the PA.
Reports of Olmert’s secret meetings with the PA chairman surfaced last month. At that time U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reportedly pressured Olmert to reach a final deal with the Arabs, while both Olmert and Rice’s boss, U.S. President George W. Bush seemed anxious for a deal as they approached the end of their respective terms in office.
Two weeks ago, Israel’s Channel 2 television reported that Olmert offered to give away 98.1 percent of Judea and Samaria to the Arabs.