Agence France-Presse June 10, 2025
— 'Doable and valid' —

Along with former Palestinian foreign minister Nasser Al-Qidwa, Olmert is promoting a plan to end decades of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians to create a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.

Both sides would swap 4.4 percent of each other's land to the other, according to the plan, with Israel receiving some West Bank territory occupied by Israeli settlers and a future Palestinian state territory that is currently part of Israel.

Ahead of a meeting this month in New York co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia on steps towards recognising a Palestinian state, Olmert said that such a plan is "practical, is doable, is relevant, is valid and is real."

Olmert spent over a year in prison from 2016-2017 after being convicted in corruption scandals that ended his political career and efforts to forge peace.

A longtime political rival of Netanyahu even though they both emerged from the same Likud right-wing party, he also faces an uphill struggle to convince Israeli society where support for a Palestinian state, let alone land swaps, is at a low ebb after October 7.

"It requires a leadership on both sides," said Olmert.
"We are trying to raise international awareness and the awareness of our own societies that this is not something lost but offers a future of hope."

Ehud Olmert and Al-Qidwa former has-beens and his dog now experts