Olmert offered Abbas land near Gaza as swap for settlements

[oberliner]

Former prime minister Ehud Olmert proposed giving the Palestinians land from communities bordering the Gaza Strip and from the Judean Desert nature reserve in exchange for Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank.

According to the map proposed by Olmert, which is being made public here for the first time, the future border between Israel and the Gaza Strip would be adjacent to kibbutzim and moshavim such as Be'eri, Kissufim and Nir Oz, whose fields would be given to the Palestinians.

Olmert also proposed giving land to a future Palestinian state in the Beit She'an Valley near Kibbutz Tirat Tzvi; in the Judean Hills near Nataf and Mevo Betar; and in the area of Lachish and of the Yatir Forest. Together, the areas would have involved the transfer of 327 square kilometers of territory from within the Green Line.

Olmert presented his map to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in September of last year. Abbas did not respond, and negotiations ended. In an interview with Haaretz on Tuesday, Abbas said Olmert had presented several drafts of his map.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1135699.html

[azurnoir]

1. The last paragragh sums it up rather well

Shaul Arieli of the Council for Peace and Security, which developed a map with a final border as part of the Geneva Initiative, said Israel's capacity to swap territory with a future Palestinian state is more limited than what Olmert reportedly proposed.

[shira]

3. and Abbas still rejected it.....face it, he's not really interested in a Palestinian state

[Violet_Crumble]

4. Yeah, I picked up on that last paragraph as well n/t

[shira]

2. Haaretz version of Olmert's map to Abbas, Sept 2008

http://www.haaretz.com/hasite/images/iht_daily/D171209/olmertmap.pdf

[shira]

5. Abbas: Olmert offered PA land equaling 100% of West Bank

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1136351.html