The Olmert Plan is no longer possible at this point (sadly). It was the very best offer the Palestnians were going to get. Anything they get now, even based on the principles of the Olmert Plan, will be less than what they might have had.
Less land for swap. No division of Jerusalem. No corridor between West Bank and Gaza. A security corridor for Israel through to the Jordan border. A security corridor in the Jordan valley. Those are the new realities in that past eight years. Its only going to get worse.
Shusha - could Olmert have pulled it off? If someone answered this already and I missed it, then I apologize. I don't think he could have - wouldn't the Knesset have had to go along with it? Would they have? What was offered was far more than I can imagine Israel agreeing to given public opinion on certain things like Jerusalem. Abbas had to have known this.
It was less than what was on the table at Camp David, and Arafat turned that down.
Do you know that the Palestinians demand that new talks start at the point they walked out of the last talks, and now they walk out as soon as Israel refuses. Everyone knows that if the talks break down you start from the beginning again
Doesn't answer the question - could Olmert have pulled it off, particularly given the climate in Israel at the time?
It was all down to the Palestinians to find out, and as always they refused to talk. How many times have they walked out on peace talks now, showing they have no intentions to ever be at peace with Israel.
What kind of statement is that?
Could Olmert have pulled it off? No leader is going to enter into a deal that is likely to go bad - they keep one eye on the political situation.
A truthful one that is proven by the number of times they have walked away from peace talks. Now the Israelis are not even meeting with the Palestinians and the Palestinians are not sure on what to do.