A newly revealed map from former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert exposes yet another missed opportunity for peace—this time, one that offered the Palestinians nearly everything they claimed to want. In a yet-to-be-broadcast BBC interview, Olmert unveiled the detailed peace proposal he presented to Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas in 2008, offering the Palestinians 94% of the West Bank for the creation of an independent state. Israel would have annexed 4.9% of the territory, while compensating the Palestinians with land swaps near Gaza and the West Bank. The plan even included a tunnel or highway linking Gaza and the West Bank, ensuring territorial continuity between the two regions. Perhaps most stunningly, Olmert’s proposal also addressed Jerusalem, a perpetual point of contention. Under the plan, Jerusalem would be divided, with Israel and a Palestinian state each claiming parts as their capital. The Old City and key religious sites would be governed by a committee of international trustees composed of Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the United States. The proposal would have also required Israel to evacuate dozens of Jewish communities in the West Bank and Jordan Valley, similar to the 2005 disengagement from Gaza’s Gush Katif settlements. Yet, despite the unprecedented Israeli concessions, Abbas walked away. The revelation comes as part of a BBC documentary, Israel and the Palestinians: The Road to 7th October, which examines past negotiations. In the film, Olmert, who had never before shared the map publicly, describes how Abbas initially responded to the proposal with astonishment and apparent interest. “Prime Minister, this is very serious. It is very, very, very serious,” Abbas reportedly told Olmert. Olmert believed they were on the cusp of a historic breakthrough, yet the Palestinians ultimately rejected the deal—just as they did with the 1947 UN Partition Plan, Camp David in 2000, and numerous other opportunities to establish a Palestinian state. “In the next 50 years, you will not find one Israeli leader that will propose to you what I propose to you now,” Olmert told Abbas at the time. Olmert’s map proves yet again that the Palestinians do not want peace—at least not one that requires them to accept a Jewish state alongside their own. Every time they are presented with a realistic, historic opportunity for statehood, they reject it. The Olmert proposal should have ended the conflict. Instead, the Palestinians chose to keep the conflict alive—a choice that ultimately led to more violence, including Hamas’s October 7 massacre and the ongoing instability in the region. This newly revealed offer shatters the illusion that the Palestinians are merely waiting for a “fair” deal. They had their chance—and they said no. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)