Portrait of Mahmoud Abbas
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Mahmoud Abbas on Ehud Olmert

Admitted rejecting offer (strong) Position evolved

TL;DR

Mahmoud Abbas publicly confirmed rejecting an unprecedented 2008 peace offer from Ehud Olmert, citing map review issues.

Key Points

  • The Palestinian leader admitted in a 2015 interview on Israeli television to rejecting a comprehensive peace offer from Olmert in 2008.

  • The primary reason cited for the rejection was that Olmert would not allow him to take the map outlining the proposed borders for further study.

  • Olmert later asserted that Abbas was privately supportive of the deal and never formally said 'no' to the parameters presented during the talks.

Summary

Mahmoud Abbas confirmed in a 2015 interview that he rejected a comprehensive peace proposal offered by then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in 2008. The offer, negotiated under American auspices, reportedly included a near-total Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank with land swaps, and placing the Old City of Jerusalem under international control. Abbas’s stated reason for rejecting the deal was that he was not allowed to study the map detailing the proposed borders and that Olmert was facing domestic scandals that might lead to his resignation.

The former prime minister, Olmert, maintained that Abbas was privately in favor of the deal and regretted not signing it, emphasizing that Abbas never explicitly said 'no' to the plan. While Abbas acknowledged the seriousness of the proposal, he claimed he respected Olmert's decision not to hand over the map for detailed expert review before initialing agreement. Following Abbas's reported rejection, the negotiations subsequently stalled and never formally resumed, effectively ending the peace process that began at Annapolis.

Frequently Asked Questions

No, Mahmoud Abbas publicly admitted that he rejected the peace deal offered by Ehud Olmert in 2008. He stated that he rejected it 'out of hand' during an interview.

Abbas claimed he turned down the offer because Olmert presented the proposed border map but would not allow him to take it away for his team to study. Olmert, however, suggested Abbas regretted the decision later.

Ehud Olmert stated that Mahmoud Abbas was privately in favor of the offer and never actually said 'no' to the plan itself. The former Israeli Prime Minister claimed Abbas felt the plan sounded 'very impressive' but needed internal review.