According to Tom Friedman: Kerry plan gives Palestinians less than Olmert’s

Noam Sheizaf By Noam Sheizaf January 29, 2014 | Edit

Tom Friedman writes from Tel Aviv:

The “Kerry Plan,” likely to be unveiled soon, is expected to call for an end to the conflict and all claims, following a phased Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank (based on the 1967 lines), with unprecedented security arrangements in the strategic Jordan Valley. The Israeli withdrawal will not include certain settlement blocs, but Israel will compensate the Palestinians for them with Israeli territory. It will call for the Palestinians to have a capital in Arab East Jerusalem and for Palestinians to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people. It will not include any right of return for Palestinian refugees into Israel proper.

If Friedman is right – and his account is in line with previous leaks – the “Kerry Plan” will be less favorable to the Palestinians than the final offer made by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. In a way, it rewards Netyanyahu for his hardline positions.

Olmert offered to take 25,000 Palestinian refugees into Israel (Abbas wanted 150,000). As for recognizing Israel as a Jewish state – Olmert did bring it up, but never made it a central part of his policy, especially not in the late stages of the talks. One could also take from Friedman’s column an assumption that Kerry won’t insist on 1:1 land swaps for the settlement blocs Israel intends to annex (though this is not entirely clear from the way Friedman phrases it). According to some accounts, Olmert came pretty close to 1:1 ratio.

Prime Minister Olmert was in trouble over corruption charges by the time he made his offer to Abbas. Both Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and US deputy national security adviser Elliott Abrams thought that Abbas would “break away with Olmert,” and indeed, negotiations did not continue.

Noam Sheizaf

Noam Sheizaf is an independent journalist and editor. He was the founding executive director and editor-in-chief of +972 Magazine. Prior to joining +972, he worked for Tel Aviv’s Ha-ir local paper, Ynet, and the Maariv daily, where his last position was deputy editor of the weekend magazine. He is currently working on a number of documentary films.

End of article module for Members

TEST TEST GAL Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence.    We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies.   This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza.   We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives.   Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

Make a Donation