Former prime minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday gave tremendous credit to Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ) for taking great risks to normalize with Israel, and questioned whether Jerusalem and the Palestinians would follow suit to reach a peace deal.
Speaking at the at the Global Investment Forum in Dubai, sponsored by The Jerusalem Post and the Khaleej Times, Olmert said MBZ was “prepared to take a step which may have been seen by some, especially in the region, to be risky, to be dangerous, to be unpopular, because it is not congruent with what was expected by the larger Arab-Muslim community.”
He continued: “I say that they have set an example that should be followed by many others. Therefore, they deserve recognition for leadership that will set the trend for a major change that can” improve the entire Middle East.
Next, the former prime minister said: “Now it’s time for leaders of other countries, starting with the leaders of the State of Israel, to take a giant step forward in order to resolve all the outstanding issues which are still creating difficulties in our part of the world.
“Israel has to step up because we are stronger. Not because we are more or less responsible. We are stronger and we are occupying the Palestinians. We need to step up and sit down without any preconditions for a two-state solution. And I hope Abu Mazen [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas] will have the wisdom and the courage to do what he failed to do when I proposed a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders,” in 2008.
Moreover, addressing any future leaders of Israel, he said that whoever they might be, “if they will have the guts to do it [cut a deal with the Palestinians], the whole Middle East will change.”
The former prime minister said both sides had made terrible mistakes, missing chances for peace in the past.
He rebuked Abbas for failing to give a conditional yes to the Trump administration’s January 2020 peace plan to try to build on positive momentum and potentially expose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as rejecting the plan.
Further, he warned the PA that the world may lose patience with it for not trying hard enough to compromise to resolve the conflict with Israel.
In addition, Olmert said, “my vision, my dream... is that the Middle East in a short period of time will become the most powerful, richest and most stable region in the world.”
In 2008, Olmert offered Abbas the most far-reaching Israeli compromise to date to resolve the conflict.
However, by the time he made the offer, he had already announced his resignation due to legal problems, which put the offer in doubt, and various officials said that even then-foreign minister Tzipi Livni told the PA to wait for her to be elected.
She was defeated in the race to form a coalition by Netanyahu in 2009, who has been prime minister ever since.
Speaking to potential new prime ministers Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and Yamina leader Naftali Bennett, Olmert cautioned: “Be careful until the very last minute – you never know in Israeli politics what may happen. I hope they will succeed. But even if they fail today, they will succeed in a short time because Netanyahu is done.”
He also turned to the audience and said, “While some Israelis believe we come here to teach the Emirates how we build and create... there is a lot we can learn from you guys – the more open-minded we will be about it.”