Geneva Initiative Conference: Israel and the...

	On September 19, the Geneva Initiative hosted former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other experts in a conference on Israel and the Palestinians.

Last night (September 19th, 2010), the Geneva Initiative held a conference of experts in Tel Aviv regarding the peace process. In addition to presentations by Dr. Matti Steinberg; Dr. Tal Becker and Prof. Tamar Hermann, the evening included a key-note address by the last Israeli Prime Minister to engage in ongoing negotiations with the Palestinian leadership, Mr. Ehud Olmert.

September 19, 2010: Former PM Olmert at a Geneva Initiative conference

The following headlines were stated by Olmert during the course of his presentation:

· About the peace process: Nothing is more essential to Israel than ending the conflict with the Palestinians.

· About the current negotiations: Direct talks should be commended. I do believe in the intentions of the Prime Minister. I'm convinced that this is the time. We have to reach an understanding with the Palestinians. I wish the Netanyahu Government luck in the process and that an agreement will be reached by the end of the Jewish year.

· About the Americans: President Bush was always perceived by Israelis as the greatest friend of Israel and there was perhaps never an American President who was such a great supporter of Israel. I want to tell you this now: President Obama's policies towards Israel and towards ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are exactly the same as those of Bush.

· About borders: A solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be based on the 1967 borders.

· About Jerusalem: We will not be able to reach an agreement if anyone claims exclusive sovereignty on the holy sites of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be neither ours nor the Palestinians’. It will be managed by international trustees including Israel and Palestine.

· About security: the U.S. administration under Bush had accepted the "eight-point document" drafted by Israel's defense establishment, which included Israel's central security interests. Bush promised to pass this along to the Obama administration and the Palestinians recognized this document and they were not opposed to a single one of its points

· About Refugees: I think it is important to acknowledge that we feel a deep empathy to those that used to be inhabitants of what became the state of Israel and became refugees. We always want the other side to recognize our suffering, why can’t we acknowledge theirs? The US was prepared to absorb 100,000 refugees.

· About the Arab League Initiative: I suggested that the refugee issue be resolved in the framework of the Arab peace initiative. I'm glad the current government is talking about the Road Map, which states that one of the cornerstones of peace is the Arab Initiative.

The conference was attended by almost 300 people including members of Knesset, members of the diplomatic community, public figures, former officials and security figures; journalists, heads of NGOs, civil society leaders and academicians. The event generated extensive media coverage in the Israeli press. For English coverage in the Israeli press, see Ha’aretz (here), Y-net (here) and The Jerusalem Post (here). The event was also covered internationally by CNN (here), Independent Online (here) and Xinhua News Agency (here).

Geneva Initiative Conference, September 19, 2010: Israel and the Palestinians - Decision Time

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View the original event invitation here, as well as information on the other speakers at the event.

The conference was also broadcast live via Twitter, through the Geneva Initiative's Twitter stream (@genevaaccord)

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