Former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert has revealed for the first time the detailed map of his 2008 two-state solution proposal that could have reshaped the Middle East peace process, according to new documentary footage from BBC.
"This is the first time that I expose this map to the media," Olmert tells documentary filmmakers in "Israel and the Palestinians: The Road to 7th October," which will be available on iPlayer.
I'm not too sure that Ehud Olmert could've delivered this map <>The unseen map that promised to bring peace to the Middle East - by @BBCPaulAdams : https://t.co/WvjkzKAhg9
— dr harry hagopian 😷 (@harryhagopian) February 24, 2025
The map, which has gained near-mythical status in diplomatic circles, proposed creating a Palestinian state on more than 94% of the West Bank, with Israel annexing 4.9% of the territory. In exchange, Israel would have surrendered an equal amount of land along the edges of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The plan included a complex solution for Jerusalem, proposing split capitals and international oversight of religious sites. A committee of trustees, including representatives from Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the United States, would have administered the "holy basin" area containing the Old City.
During the September 16, 2008 meeting in Jerusalem, Olmert urged Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to sign the agreement. "In the next 50 years, you will not find one Israeli leader that will propose to you what I propose to you now. Sign it! Sign it and let's change history!" Olmert recalls saying during the meeting.
According to Rafiq Husseini, Abbas's chief of staff at the time, the Palestinians viewed the proposal skeptically due to Olmert's political situation as he was involved in a corruption scandal and had already announced that he was planning to resign. "Of course, we laughed. It is unfortunate that Olmert, regardless of how nice he was... was a lame duck. We will go nowhere with this," Husseini says in the documentary.
The proposal would have required evacuating numerous Jewish settlements throughout the West Bank and Jordan Valley, a potentially more significant undertaking than the 2005 Gaza withdrawal. However, the plan never progressed after Abbas declined to sign without consulting experts.
Ehud Olmert has revealed publicly for the first time the map of the peace offer that Mahmoud Abbas rejected in 2008 (the picture on the right is Abbas' sketch of it.
Abbas rejected this ridiculously generous offer and now there will never be a Palestinian state in any borders. pic.twitter.com/dmJpFDt5W6
— Saul Sadka (@Saul_Sadka) February 24, 2025
In the following months, escalating tensions led to Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu's subsequent election victory in February 2009 effectively ended prospects for implementing the proposal.
The revelation comes at a time when the two-state solution appears increasingly remote. Since the Oslo Accords signing in 1993, which saw Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat shake hands at the White House, multiple peace initiatives have failed to achieve lasting results.
Abba Eban's 1973 observation about how the Palestinians "never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity" has become a recurring theme in Israeli-Palestinian relations, though the documentary suggests the reality is more complex than simple rejection.
The previously unseen map joins other unrealized peace proposals, including the 2001 Taba negotiations, which briefly showed promise before being overtaken by regional violence and political transitions.
