Olmert: Netanyahu should put my plan on table

Former PM tells 'Post' a peace deal with Palestinians could have been struck in 2007; says likely to run for PM in next elections.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, HADAS PARUSH
Ehoud Olmert 521 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Ehoud Olmert 521
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should place Ehud Olmert's proposals for peace with the Palestinians back on the table, the former prime minister told The Jerusalem Post in an exclusive interview.
"I think the plan I presented [in 2007], which is well-known to the prime minister [Binyamin Netanyahu], should be placed on the table again. Let's do it," Ehud Olmert said.
Speaking on his marathon of meetings from December 2006 to 2008 with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Olmert quoted Abbas as saying he "could have concluded deal with me if I'd have stayed in power three more months."
"You can't signal to Palestinians that you are going to build in every major part of West Bank, and then say you are negotiating without preconditions. This is contradictory, not something that can work," Olmert stated.
"There is no agreement because the two sides did not do enough," he said.
In an apparent allusion to the stagnated peace process and his removal from it, the former prime minister told the 'Post' he is likely to run for the position again in the next elections.
"One of most significant factors in last elections was that there was no real challenge to the prime minister," Olmert said, adding: "There was a desire...for a valid, solid contender against Netanyahu. This is something I will have to consider seriously."
Speaking on The Holyland trial against him and 16 other defendants, Olmert stated that the major accusations were false and motivated by the political agendas of his foes.
"There was a serious effort by political forces unhappy with my policies to try and get rid of me, and unfortunately, they succeeded...at least for a while," he said.
Ehud Olmert will be speaking at The Jerusalem Post Conference in New York City on April 28, 2013.