"I was not happy with Obama's decision to have a dialogue with Iran,” Olmert said in late November. “This dialogue will be used for only one purpose, to buy time for Iran. My advice would be to set a rigid timetable for this dialogue... This is the responsibility of President Obama.”
In his remarks in Tel Aviv, the former Prime Minister said he is concerned about Iran's nuclear ambitions but did not refer to President Obama or sanctions, limiting his comments to ruling out a military attack.
Olmert also repeated what he told the Australian concerning the Palestinian Authority, mainly that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas never replied to his giving him a map of a proposed PA state, a more or less final offer. The map included a division of Jerusalem.
In his interview with the Australian, Olmert was negative about the prospects that Abbas wants to negotiate on a new Arab state for the PA. “To this day, we should ask Abu Mazen [Abbas] to respond to this plan [offered by Israel]. If they say no, there's no point in negotiating," Olmert stated,
The former prime minister, who secretly conducted indirect negotiations with Syria, also reiterated for his Tel Aviv audience his belief that peace can be made with Damascus. “Peace is not a pipe dream,” he said. “It is possible, necessary and urgent.”