However in the same May 2023 speech CDU leader Friedrich Merz mentioned the new peace initiative of *former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and the former Palestinian foreign minister and nephew of Yasser Arafat, Nasser al-Qudwa, as a ray of hope to relaunch a peace process
Olmert and Qudwa have been traveling all over Europe in recent months, promoting their “peace initiative” which is based on the generous but failed peace proposition that Olmert presented in 2008 to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas
Abbas never rejected the peace plan He just didn’t react and waited for Olmert to step down
Abbas believing that a two state-solution peace plan, which didn’t work almost two decades ago, can be relevant after the horrors of October 7, 2023 committed by Palestinians and perpetuated by the cruel treatment of hostages – doesn’t reflect a sense of political realism
Originally Posted by Trojan
From: The Guardian October 28, 2024 *Former Israeli PM promotes two-state solution;
first Israeli premier to be imprisoned Ehud Olmert is not an uncontroversial figure in Israel and internationally.
He was convicted of corruption in 2014 and in 2016 became the first Israeli premier to be imprisoned, capping a years-long legal saga that forced him to resign in 2009 during an intense round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, then released early, in 2017
