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.

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Firstly, in the 1920s, a war began between us and the destructive movement of the Arabs in the land. We have not yet decisively won it, even though many mistakenly thought we were heading towards resolution at certain times (in 1949-1967, and in the brief burst of optimism around the Oslo Accords). Although we defeated this movement at several important junctures and strengthened ourselves immeasurably compared to it, we have not yet won the war against it. We haven't even clarified to ourselves what the nature of the resolution will be, after the conception that resolution lies in a two-state solution has completely collapsed.

As we tensely await a resolution in the Iran-Israel war, is a strategic confrontation forming between Israel and Turkey in the Syrian arena? Will Turkey repeat the imperialist pattern of a populous state clashing with Israel, as Egypt and Iran have done?

Secondly, in the Egypt-Israel war, Egypt organized the Arab states around a war against the State of Israel with the aim of annihilating it. That war began with the Egyptian invasion in 1948, or when the Free Officers movement led by Nasser, with its imperialist ambitions in the region, came to power in Egypt in 1952. It ended with a clear political-strategic victory for Israel in 1979, several years after an important but not decisive military victory by Israel in 1973.

Only in 1979, after a series of military defeats and in light of Israel's political alliance with the US, was Egypt forced to sign a peace agreement and officially and practically abandon the campaign to annihilate Israel. Begin and Dayan realized that victory, based on wars and struggles waged by their predecessors Ben-Gurion, Eshkol, Golda and Rabin. This does not mean that there is no threat from Egypt now, especially if an aggressive Islamist regime takes hold there as foreshadowed during the "Arab Spring" years. A decisive (or "absolute") victory does not mean a "final victory" after which there is no danger of war.

As an act of the devil, today, we know that we were not given respite after the agreement with Egypt. In that year of victory, 1979, we were forced into the beginning of a war with Iran, when the Islamist regime of Shi'ite clerics - the new claimant to regional hegemony after Egypt's failure - came to power that very year. The Iran-Israel war began slowly, and the first arena was Lebanon, where Iran established Hezbollah (in 1981-1984), during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). Although fighting for its existence, the Islamist regime in Iran then began its long war against us, stemming from a distorted "redemption" doctrine and a justified perception that the US and Israel stand in its way to acquiring imperial hegemony.

There is a risk of a similar serious development with Islamist Turkey today. As we tensely await a resolution in the Iran-Israel war, is a strategic confrontation forming between Israel and Turkey in the Syrian arena? Will Turkey repeat the imperialist pattern of a populous state clashing with Israel, as Egypt and Iran have done?

Long before its Islamist supporters took over the Aleppo-Damascus axis, Turkey under Erdogan's leadership embarked on a path of hostility towards Israel - in religious subversion in Jerusalem, in support of the brief Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt (together with the Obama administration and Qatar), and in practical and rhetorical support for the murderous barbarians of Hamas. It also shows quasi-imperialist activism throughout the region - in Libya, the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea, Syria and against Greece and Cyprus.

If these trends continue, the confrontation will come. But it is not a decree of fate. The government in Turkey may change, and Israel has an interest in preventing a confrontation. It can, for example, limit cooperation with the Syrian Kurds, who threaten Turkey because of their ties to the PKK terrorist organization operating in Turkey. But Israel will not be able to ignore Turkey's hostility and act with appeasement that invites aggression. Vigilance is therefore required for the possibility that Turkey will not resist the temptation and will stand against Israel in Syria."

Prof. Avi Bareli is a historian and researcher at Ben-Gurion Univesity of the Negev.

The post Echoes of empires past: Is this Israel's next great regional foe? appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

On the last day of our visit to Oman, we decided we should eat at one of the more high-end restaurants in Muscat, near the marvelous opera house. It got raving reviews, so we figured we should check it out. We asked the driver who had been with us all through the visit whether he would like to join. As the locals generally do, he replied with low-key modesty, "Only if this is ok with you." And without missing a beat we said, "Of course." After all, this driver went above and beyond what he had to during our brief tour, showing us what only the locals know about the place. So apart from giving him a generous tip, it was a no-brainer that he would join us for our last festive meal.

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At some point during our chat with the driver, we decided to challenge him by asking if he had ever wondered where we are from, having listened to us speak all this time in a language he could not understand. He smiled and replied, "I know where you are from." We asked if he had ever met Israelis and he said that he had indeed, once before, but also added that he met Israelis in India and Thailand. We promised that we would recommend his services to anyone we meet who planned to visit Oman and he thanked us. "I wish I could come and visit Israel," he said."

That driver, whom we met just by happenstance after ordering a taxi, captures the essence of this surprising country: friendly, welcoming, intelligent, and calm. In fact, very calm. In that sense – but not just in that sense – Oman is very different than the rest of the Middle East. You won't hear people shout or swear or honk. Everything is calm and everyone is courteous.

This is perhaps why the sultanate doesn't usually grab the media spotlight. Compared to its flashy neighbors the UAE and Qatar, Omar is more modest. But underneath this veneer, there lies a country that is definitely worth a visit – perhaps more so than any other Gulf destination.

A strategic location

Oman lies on the eastern part of the Persian Gulf. In fact, it is the easternmost Arab country and shares a border with the UAE in the north; Yemen in the south; and Saudi Arabia in the west. Across from the Gulf of Oman lies Iran. It has also been influenced to a large degree by India and Pakistan and by the legacy left behind by the British, whose decades-old rule ended in full only in 1971. It belongs to the Gulf Cooperation Council alongside Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait, but unlike those countries, it espouses neutrality. That's why it refused to join the Saudi-led coalition to fight the Houthi rebels in Yemen. This allowed it to enjoy a peaceful border on that flank.

This is also why Oman has not joined the Abraham Accords, and probably won't do so in the foreseeable future. However, beneath the surface, it has maintained good relations with Israel, which have been managed by Mossad. Efraim Halevy, who was Mossad director, told Israel Hayom that he visited the sultanate for the first time in 1974. Since then, the Mossad chiefs have visited this place quite often, but not only them. Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, and Benjamin Netanyahu all visited Oman as prime ministers. Various cabinet ministers and government officials also visited Muscat when Israeli-Arab relations flourished (such as during the heyday of the Oslo Accords), but also when things turned south in the region.

Recently the two countries have seen an uptick in cross-border engagements. Part of this is because Israel has been courting Oman to allow Israeli airliners unrestricted access to its airspace en route to the east. Jerusalem was taken aback by the Omani refusal despite Saudi Arabia giving a green light in July during President Joe Biden's visit. Notwithstanding this road bump, policymakers believe that this matter will be resolved in due course, perhaps even before Israelis travel en masse to various destinations during the High Holy Days.

It is also safe to assume that there are pressures applied by those who oppose this easing of restrictions, primarily by Iran. Iran has significant clout in the region, despite the religious gulf between the Arab states (Oman is Sunni, Iran is Shiite). When Iran engaged in covert nuclear talks in 2015 over the nuclear deal, they did so in Muscat under the auspices of the sultanate's hosts. This was made possible mostly because of the Omani neutrality that, as far as Iran is concerned, is different than the hostility exhibited by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the UAE.

The lack of official ties between the countries has prevented Israelis from visiting the state as regular tourists. Only those who hold a foreign passport can visit, and that is too bad because the sultanate is one big surprise: Oman offers tourists a combination of western urban towns alongside an outback whose nature runs wild. It has high-end hotels and great food. For Israelis who seek an exotic vacation, booking a vacation in Oman should be a no-brainer once it becomes a viable option.

Muscat, the capital, is in the northern part of the country. Many of the tourists there arrive by car from the UAE, and others by air. Tourist season is mainly in the winter when things cool down a bit from the high 70s you have during the summer months (along with prohibitive humidity). Because of the heat, many establishment owners close their premises starting midday, take a siesta and then come back to work in the afternoon. Some have air conditioning and even the local open-air market has cooling systems that make it possible for tourists to browse the stands and for the merchants to make a living.

That market is one of the main attractions in the city. It has everything you could want, but its specialty is frankincense, whose aroma is very popular among the locals. It comes in the form of small rocks that get lit and then spread their scent. Those who want traditional souvenirs can buy the curved daggers that men carry on their belts, which are also part of the national flag, the hats worn by practically all men, and the traditional jalabiyya garments that cover men and women from head to toe (white for the former, black for the latter). You can also find leather products, dates, and sesame confectionery known as halwa. But unlike the halwa we know from Israel, the Omani version resembles Turkish delight and it is very sweet - it is served on small plates with dessert, along with tea or coffee (even the coffee here is different: Like other Gulf nations, it is much lighter).

Omani food is a twist on your traditional Middle Eastern or Arab dishes. Hummus has a different texture and taste - much more subtle, almost like yogurt. The food is based mostly on sheep and camel meat. It is served alongside rice and the like. The strong spices are influenced to a large degree by Asian cuisine, but there are also unique flavors. The flagship dish is shuwa meat – which is mutton marinated in Omani spices, then wrapped in banana leaves or palm leaves and put in an underground sand oven for a protracted period of several days. Fish is also popular here: Oman's relatively easy access to seawater made it a major exporter of fish and seafood.

Oman provides much of its domestic consumption on its own, especially when it comes to fruit and vegetables. Its economy is heavily based on oil and over the past two decades, it has also been fueled by natural gas. Much of the wealth it accumulates goes back to the people: The main motorway from the capital to the southern city of Salalah on the Yemeni border - which is about 620 miles - was built as a toll road by a Chinese company but it was eventually transferred to government ownership and is now charge-free. It is very impressive, in part because it has lights all along and is very well kept.

In fact, high-end maintenance is a constant feature in Oman. The uniformity of the homes – low-leveled and light-colored – could give you the wrongful first impression that they are decrepit, but the truth is that this is designed to preserve the conservative character of the place to avoid an eye-popping display of wealth. For the same reason, you won't find skyscrapers in Oman or highrises. Homes are relatively new and the infrastructure is the most advanced – from the watering systems to the drip irrigation (including in far-flung villages). This is also the case with communication systems (there is cellular coverage practically everywhere, including in the desert and mountain areas). When we tried to pay with cash in one of the villages in order to visit a local castle, we were told that we could only pay by credit card, despite the ticket price being just two dollars.

Oman is dotted with castles and fortresses from the time it was ruled by the Portugees (who were later kicked out by the Ottomans in the 17th century). Muscat's coastline has castles, including some that lie right next to the Sultan's palace. The palace is located on the sea, with red-colored cannons at its coast-facing back to protect the ruler. The entrance to the palace is only through the front. The building itself is very much like Oman as a whole – projects modesty but also cleanliness, both in architecture and physical features. Just like other Gulf states, Oman has used its wealth to attract many foreign workers, who take up a variety of jobs mainly in the services industry. But unlike the UAE or Qatar, where you would normally only encounter foreigners, in Oman, the locals work in every sector. That's why the ratio of locals to foreigners is different than its neighbors. It has about 2.5 million citizens and a similar number of foreign residents.

The Islam practiced here is very different. The country is conservative and religious but in moderation. You see mosques everywhere - don't miss the splendor of the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in the capital with its massive carpets, wood engravings, and impressive chandelier. The sultan often arrives for the Friday service - but the country is not run by religious institutions; they only complement the state institutions. Alcohol, for example, is prohibited in public and you won't find it in stores and restaurants on the street front, but you can definitely drink in hotel lobbies which are frequented by many locals as well. The relatively few restrictions are also evident in how Omani authorities treat women: They can join the workforce and get a driver's license, and they can go out to party and attend college. Oman has invested heavily in education: You don't have to pay anything from kindergarten until you graduate from university. Those who excel can get scholarships for advanced degrees at prestigious institutions abroad.

The sense of personal security here is exceptional. You almost never see a police officer but the locals follow the rules, from maintaining cleanliness to proper driving. They don't go over the speed limit or honk and you rarely see some traffic violations. Our guide told us that the police usually crack down primarily on those who use their cellphone while driving or those who have not buckled up, as well as on drunk drivers. Those who get caught get fined about $20. If you are caught three times, your license is revoked on the spot.

Gas is very cheap because it's produced from Oman's own natural resources. Our guide complained that the price was higher than normal because of the war in Ukraine, causing the price at the pump to double. Groceries shopping is also very cheap, as are meals at restaurants. Although you can definitely find high-end dining – as you would see in a hotel – the majority of restaurants are very affordable. At Rozna, which is located inside a castle-like structure, a couple can get soups, appetizers, main courses, desserts, and drinks for a total of $30.

A 5-star desert

Muscat is very welcoming, but the real deal is what is just outside it. Nature in Oman is unique. Although desert comprises 85% of the country, some 15% are mountainous. One of the main tourist attractions is Wadi Shab, with its many oases, situated some two hours from the capital (and another 40 minutes hike in each direction on a trail replete with tropical flora including mango, papaya, banana, and of course dates and lime). The way to reach the wadi is also full of various landmarks and all are very well kept and organized: easy parking, clean toilets, and clear signage in both Arabic and English. This is a 5-star desert.

Another popular destination in Oman is just southwest of the capital: Nizwa. In its center, there is a big castle called Nizwa Fort. It has a large marketplace – the Nizwa Souk – where the main attraction is the livestock market where people flock to every morning to sell their sheep and camels and buy other animals. There is also a fish market nearby and a halwa factory that some say is one of the sultan's favorite places.

On the way to Nizwa, you can stop at a place called Bahla, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of the hundreds-year-old wall surrounding it, spanning more than 12 km (15 miles). There are also quite a lot of picturesque villages dotting the mountains, with residents getting their livelihood mainly from tourism. Each village has easily accessible hiking trails with signs and comfortable access routes, including some that involve more extreme sports, such as rappelling and rock climbing, or trails that go along waterfalls and natural lagoons. All villages have small hostels with coffee shops with a great view of the mountains, capturing the history of every waterfall, stream, and plant for hundreds of years. In fact, Oman has a rich history due to its strategic location, but also because of outer space. It turns out that a lot of the meteorites that hit the earth ended up in the sultanate, making it a mecca for meteoriticists.

Most of the tourists we encountered were actually foreign workers. The guide told us that during the winter months the number of tourists from overseas grows, mainly tourists from Europe who want to escape the cold. The local airline, Oman Air, flies to major destinations in Europe, as well as to various locations in east Asia, India, and Pakistan, but mainly to the Middle East: Egypt, Jordan, and of course, the Gulf states. Tickets are rather affordable, as are the hotels. Oman, being a rather inexpensive country, uses the Omani Rial as the official currency (1 Omani Rial equals $2.60), but only in notes; no coins. The notes range from 1 to 50 rial. There are also notes for the subunits of the rial, Baisas. All of the notes bear the image of the sultan, Haitham bin Tariq. Murals of him and his predecessor, Qaboos bin Said, are everywhere in Oman.

Qaboos ousted his father in 1970 and made Oman into what it is today: Arab and conservative, but also open and accepting, and most importantly: very friendly. This is clear wherever you go, and with everyone, you speak to. When we stopped at the marketplace to ask for help in explaining to our guide where we are so he could pick us up, the local just asked us if he could talk with the guide and explain to him where we were. He explained this with great patience and offered to wait with us until the driver arrived.

The current sultan, who replaced Qaboos when he died in 2019, has continued in his footsteps, maintaining good relations with the rest of the world. As far as Israel is concerned, this means that the two countries are likely to maintain their low-key bilateral ties, and the issue of overflight rights will likely be resolved eventually (perhaps through US intervention). However, the two countries are unlikely to upgrade relations beyond that. Israelis who want to visit this regional gem will have to wait, although if you have a foreign passport, do not hesitate: Oman is a fascinating and surprising country in every imaginable way. It is not the typical Arab Middle Eastern country, and it gives us all hope that the region could look a lot different one day.

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Faisal Husseini, who held the Palestinian Authority's Jerusalem portfolio, gave an interview shortly before his death in the summer of 2001 in which exposed the fraud at the heart of the Oslo process. Speaking with Al Araby newspaper, Husseini said that Yasser Arafat, his deputies and henchmen never saw the "peace process" as a way of achieving peace with Israel. Oslo for them was a means to advance their goal of destroying Israel, "from the river to the sea."

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Husseini described the Oslo process as a "Trojan Horse." Arafat and his people were the hostile army that infiltrated the city "in the belly of the wooden horse." When Arafat rejected Palestinian statehood and peace at the Camp David summit in July 2000 and initiated the Palestinian terror war two months later, it was as if he and his men exited the horse and began the fight.

"This is the beginning of the real work," Husseini explained.

The PLO used the seven years that preceded the Palestinian terror war to build up their power. Arafat held "peace" talks and Israel paid through the nose for the privilege of sitting across the table from him and his apparatchiks. Israel gave them the Gaza Strip. Israel gave them the Palestinian cities and villages in Judea and Samaria. Israel gave them weapons and ammunition. Israel gave them international legitimacy. Israel – and with Israel's permission, the nations of the world – gave PLO terrorists billions of dollars every year. Israel permitted the EU and the CIA to arm and train Arafat's terror legions.

Arafat promised that in exchange for all that, he would fight terror and build the institutions necessary to run a state. Instead, he and his minions transformed the cities Israel gave them into terror bases. They used the funds to finance terror armies. They used the international legitimacy Israel's recognition conferred to escalate and expand their political war against Israel's right to exist.

The Israeli public didn't need Husseini's interview to know that Oslo was gravest strategic error in Israel's history. The first Palestinian suicide bomber blew up at a crowded bus stop seven months after Yitzhak Rabin and Arafat shook hands at the White House on Sept. 13, 1993. Between their handshake and the beginning of the Oslo war in September 2000 the number of Israelis killed by Palestinian terrorists was twice the total killed from 1967-1993.

Despite the public's opposition, today, 28 years after Oslo's launch, we are still living the world Oslo unleashed. The strategic and political realities the Oslo process created still dominate the life of the country. The Palestinian Authority still exists. It still finances and incites terror and wages its political war against Israel. The Oslo-obsessed "international community" still demands that Israel "make painful concessions for peace," and together with the Israeli Left, insists that the "two-state solution" is the only possible way to resolve the Palestinians' never-ending war for the annihilation of Israel.

For years, led by Shimon Peres, the Israeli Left dismissed public opposition to their radical, failed policy with the jeering catcall, "What's the alternative?" – as if Israel's only option is surrender to Palestinian terrorists in the name of "peace."

A year ago, we caught a glimpse of the alternative: the sovereignty plan, which was supported by America. That plan showed that there is an option for governing Judea and Samaria and securing the interests of both Israel and the Palestinians that doesn't involve empowering a terrorist organization.

As for peace, the Abraham Accords showed that the key to peace with the Arab world isn't kowtowing to Palestinian terrorists.

The key to peace is Israel's military, economic, diplomatic and social power. The parties to the Abraham Accords made peace with Israel because we are powerful, because Israel stubbornly defends of its rights and interests.

Last year's glimpse of the true alternative to surrender seems like a distant dream today. The Lapid-Gantz-Bennett government has embraced Oslo's tired, insipid slogans and presents them as original ideas – as if we were all born yesterday.

"Security for prosperity," Lapid's plan for "stabilizing" Hamas-controlled Gaza, is an attempt to repackage Oslo's requirement that Israel give the Palestinians everything they demand up front in exchange for vague promises of Palestinian moderation sometime down the line.

In Lapid's plan, Israel will let Hamas rebuild its missile stores and terror infrastructures by transferring astronomical quantities of civilian aid. Hamas will respond by temporarily suspending its missile attacks on Israel.

"The international community," will guarantee Hamas doesn't use the humanitarian id to do what it has been doing since seizing control over Gaza 15 years ago, even though "the international community," has passively and actively supported Hamas for 15 years.

"Gaza residents," will overthrow Hamas if it blocks prosperity by using "humanitarian aid" to build its their terror arsenals, even though the Palestinians of Gaza and Judea and Samaria support Hamas and want elections so that Hamas, which has been diverting humanitarian aid for 15 years, will oust Fatah and the PLO from power.

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Although PA Chairman and PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas has no public support, he is Israel's "legitimate partner" for peace. He's our partner for fighting terror even though he incites and finances terror. The Lapid-Gantz-Bennett government is committed to expanding Abbas's powers to empower "moderates."

The IDF, Lapid says, can't fight endless rounds of war with Hamas. But then again, the IDF is so powerful that he argues Israel can afford to let Hamas rebuild its arsenal and military infrastructures.

And if all this fails to convince, Lapid brought out the big guns, "international legitimacy." Israel can't live without "international legitimacy" and it won't have any if it doesn't give the Palestinians everything they demand. Anyway, it all makes sense because the only alternative is "the two-state solution."

How is it possible after all we have been through and all we have learned and seen that we are still living in the Oslo reality?

The answer begins with name of the phony peace process: Oslo. It was a Norwegian production, not an Israeli one. In 1993, the anti-Israel Norwegian government asked two Israeli peace activists who worked at a think tank connected with then-deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin to come to Oslo to meet with senior PLO terrorists. They agreed despite the fact that Israeli law then banned all contact between Israeli citizens and PLO members.

Although they represented no one, Yair Hirschfeld and Ron Pundak were happy to oblige and carried out negotiations as if they were Israel's representatives. When the talks advanced to a certain point, they told Beilin about them. And he told Peres.

After Arafat, (with Israeli coaching) scuttled the official peace talks that Rabin's representatives were holding in Washington, Peres told Rabin. Whether unwilling to get into an open battle with Peres that could potentially bring down his government, or hopeful that something positive might come from the anti-democratic exercise, Rabin agreed to make the Oslo deal official policy.

The public opposed Oslo from the beginning. To get the Oslo deals approved by Knesset, Rabin required the support of the anti-Zionist Arab parties. Once the ultra-Orthodox Shas party left his government, to survive Rabin needed to entice two lawmakers from the far-right Tzomet party to bolt their party, and abandon their ideology. He bought them off with a ministry and a deputy ministry and got the second Oslo deal through Knesset with a one-vote majority.

Rabin and Peres were able to push ahead with Oslo because the media and the legal fraternity supported their efforts to demonize its opponents. Zionists became "enemies of peace," collaborators with Hamas and Fatah. Rabin coined the term "murderers of peace." Opposition leaders who gave firmly documented heart-rending speeches against Oslo were accused of "incitement." Victims of Palestinian terror were dubbed "victims of peace."

When Ariel Sharon became prime minister at the height of the Palestinian terror war, he opted to end the media's demonization of him by joining the Oslo mob. Arguing that things look different from the Prime Minister's Office, Sharon adopted the Left's policy of mass expulsions of law-abiding Israeli citizens from their homes in Gaza. True, Sharon was reelected in a landslide in 2003 by running against the Left's expulsions platform. But he didn't care. He expelled 10,000 Israelis from their homes in 2005 and 18 months later, as he had previously warned would happen, Hamas seized control of Gaza. The media swooned.

Benjamin Netanyahu preferred to ignore Oslo in the hopes that it would wither on the vine and disappear in the face of the success of the diplomatic alternative he built on the basis of Israel's strength. Despite the wild success of his efforts, Oslo survived the sovereignty plan and the Abraham accords, and of course, Netanyahu's tenure in office. And now it is roaring back.

In pre-Yom Kippur interviews, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett echoed Sharon when he said he left his ideology and political positions behind when he entered the Prime Minister's Office. Tuesday night, Bennett's sidekick, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked warned of growing "incitement and extremism."

The Lapid-Gantz-Bennett government is sort of a Rabin-Peres government on steroids. Rabin bought his right-wing turncoats with one ministry and one deputy ministry. Bennett was able to extort a two-year premiership and Gideon Sa'ar got to be Justice Minister. The Rabin-Peres government needed the anti-Zionist Arab parties to pass the Oslo deals. The Lapid-Gantz-Bennett government needs the anti-Zionist Arab parties for everything. And like the Rabin-Peres government, the current government owes its survival to the wall to wall support it receives from the media and the legal fraternity.

This is the heart of the matter. Oslo has survived despite the fact that it has been a catastrophe for Israel on every level for 28 years because Israel's permanent ruling class supports it.

In the early years of Oslo, I was a witness to the process that brought Israel's diplomatic and military leaders, along with the senior civil service to put reality aside, and embrace Oslo's illusion of peace. During Oslo's heyday, from 1994-1996, as an IDF captain in the Defense Ministry, I served as a core member of Israel's negotiating team. I sat in the negotiating sessions in Cairo, Taba and Eilat.

The fraud was obvious even then. Every two weeks, I wrote and circulated detailed reports setting out how the Palestinian officials left the negotiating halls each week and ordered their people to breach every promise and pledge they had just made in the halls. I documented the fraud, the Oslo lie. And I saw how one by one, commanders and senior officials who understood the danger and knew the truth embraced "the new narrative" while ignoring the facts in most cases.

We won't be able to bury Oslo at the ballot box – although winning elections is a precondition for burying it. Oslo will only be finally laid to rest when we compel Israel's permanent ruling class to abandon it in favor of Zionism – and the truth.

The post Why Oslo still rules appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz and Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg met with their Palestinian Authority counterparts on Wednesday, the first ministerial-level meeting between Israel and the PA in years, officials confirmed.

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Wednesday's meetings were initiated by Minister of Regional Cooperation Esawi Frej, who encourages ministers to renew contacts with their counterparts in the Palestinian Authority.

Horowitz, Zandberg and Frej are all members of the far-left Meretz party.

"There will be further meetings with transport ministers, economy ministers. The process is continuing. There is a will and commitment on both sides  –we will talk," Frej said.

The meetings come amid a growing number of high-level contacts between Israel and the Palestinian Authority after the Bennett-Lapid government was sworn in last month.

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said on Monday he will travel to Morocco at the end of July, the first official visit by Israel's top diplomat to the Arab state since ties were upgraded last year.

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"This is a historic occasion," Lapid said in televised remarks. He said his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita would repay the visit by coming to Israel to inaugurate a diplomatic mission.

The two countries agreed in December 2020 to resume diplomatic ties and relaunch direct flights – part of a deal brokered by the administration of former US President Donald Trump that also included Washington's recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.

Lapid's said that his trip would usher in numerous economic, trade, and tourism agreements and added that he hoped his visit would be followed by a meeting between Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Morocco's King Mohammed VI.

Morocco was home to one of the largest and most prosperous Jewish communities in North Africa and the Middle East for centuries until Israel's founding in 1948. As Jews fled or were expelled from many Arab countries, an estimated quarter of a million left Morocco for Israel from 1948 to 1964.

Today only about 3,000 Jews remain in Morocco, while hundreds of thousands of Israelis claim some Moroccan ancestry. Morocco has sought in recent years to recognize the Jewish role in its history.

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The reasons are mostly psychological, obviously, but we should nevertheless address the lessons learned from the events that began 20 years ago after then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount. The date itself was random: PLO leader Yasser Arafat wanted a bloody battle, and if Sharon hadn't gone to the Mount, Arafat would have found another excuse.

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Arafat was looking for a "war of liberation." He rejected the (generous) proposals made to him at Camp David, and sought a state for his people that would be built on a foundation of fire and blood. He believed that a few days or weeks of fighting in which Israel sustained wounded and casualties would prompt Israel to make additional concessions. But there was one critical thing that Arafat failed to take into account: a few months earlier, Israel had withdrawn from the security zone in southern Lebanon. The Arab world saw that withdrawal as a panicked retreat. Hassan Nasrallah compared Israeli society to a spider web and used the eruption of violence in Judea and Samaria to kidnap three IDF soldiers on Mount Dov.

Israel could not, and did not want to, give in again and in responded mercilessly to the Palestinian attacks. Every event ended in a resounding victory for the IDF. Instead of changing tactics, Arafat kept his back against the wall. He spurned every attempt to relaunch the peace process, and raised the stakes of the violence. He started with shooting attacks, and even allowed members of Fatah's Tanzim branch to take part in them, and then let the worst Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists out of PA prisons.

The flood of veteran terrorists into the field was felt immediately. The number of terrorist attacks, particularly suicide bombings, spiked, as did the number of Israelis wounded and killed. Ehud Barak lost the prime ministership to Ariel Sharon, who adopted a brave and coolheaded policy when he decided to let Israel rack up credit at home and abroad before giving the green light for an operation that would wipe out terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank.

There were two main events along the way to that operation. The first was the suicide bombing at the Dolphinarium nightclub in Tel Aviv in June 2001 (21 people killed), which caused the Bush administration to lose faith in Arafat and basically cut him off; and the suicide bombing at the Park Hotel in Netanyahu on the eve of Passover in 2002 (30 people killed). After the seder night bombing, Israel launched Operation Defensive Shield. Along the way, the 9/11 attacks hit New York, and terrorism lost its legitimacy in the eyes of the world. Rather than understanding that, the Palestinians dug in. They are still paying the price for that.

When Israel retook control of Area A, security forces gained the freedom to operate throughout Judea and Samaria, but mostly, it restored Israel's self-confidence. Since then, it has depended mainly on itself. This is particularly noticeable when compared to what is taking place in the Gaza Strip, where there are heavy restrictions to IDF activity, especially since the 2005 disengagement, which was also a belated response to the wave of terrorism that started in Sept. 2000.

Still, Israel opted – and has opted ever since – not to cancel the Oslo Accords. Moreover, despite the lack of political contact with the Palestinian Authority, the two sides' security apparatuses have been cooperating for 15 years, often intimately, saving the lives of many people on both sides. They even worked together against major challenges like an intifada comprised of "lone wolf" stabbing attacks. PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who in the meantime has turned out not to be a partner in peace, is the one leading a path that is different from that of his predecessor, which opposes the Israeli occupation through mostly non-violent means.

It is unclear how long Israel will continue to enjoy quiet in Judea and Samaria (and Gaza). The Palestinian problem is here to stay. Israel has made a lot of progress since 2000, but the Palestinians are stuck far behind. They have lost on every front: diplomatic, security, economic, and social. If they aren't given some prospect, at some point, they might rouse themselves and look for a violent way out.

So Israel would do well to implement the main lesson of the Second Intifada: to take the initiative. To control events, rather than being dragged into them; to mark a target and go after it. Since then, Israeli society has proven that it is willing to pay the price needed for that to happen. It will do the same in the future if it needs to, and truth be told – in the present, if the leadership gives it a clear way to fight the battle against COVID.

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In a closed-door conversation, Netanyahu said that the regional significance of the newly-signed peace deals between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain left the Palestinians no option other than to come back to the table.

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However, the prime minister said that talks with the PA would re-launch only after the US presidential election on Nov. 3, and only if US President Donald Trump is re-elected.

In the case of a Trump victory, Netanyahu said, he would begin negotiations based on the Trump administration peace plan, as he promised to do.

Meanwhile, ties between Israel and the two now-friendly Gulf nations are solidifying quickly. Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi send personal messages to his counterparts in the UAE and Bahrain in which he wished them and their families a year of "peace, prosperity, stability and health."

Emirati Foreign Minister responded Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan responded with a message that read: "Shana Tova, Gabi, this is a wonderful way to begin the year, and I hope it is a good sign for both of us, Abdullah."

Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani responded to Ashkenazi's message with the words: "Thank you, my dear friend, for the Jewish New Year greeting," and wished him a "blessed year in which we bring peace and stability to the region."

I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong. pic.twitter.com/DwByD9JAOD

— Chaskel Bennett (@ChaskelBennett) September 17, 2020

On Thursday, a video from 2016 showing former US President Barack Obama's Secretary of State John Kerry claiming that Israel would make no progress with Arab countries without a peace deal with the Palestinians went viral.

"There will be no separate peace between Israel and the Arab world. I want to make that very clear," Kerry says in the clip.

"I've heard several prominent politicians in Israel sometimes saying, 'Well, the Arab world's in a different place now. We just have to reach out to them … and [then] we'll deal with the Palestinians.' No. No, no, and no.

"There will be no advance and separate peace with the Arab world without the Palestinian process and Palestinian peace. Everybody needs to understand that. That is a hard reality," Kerry says.

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The 737-900 El Al aircraft, named Kiryat Gat in honor of the southern town, will have 16 Business Class seats, with one aisle. With several dozen onboard, including senior adviser to President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, some of the officials will have to sit in Economy Class.

The flight will most likely go over Saudi Arabia, marking the first time the Israeli national carrier gets a green light for such a path. The flight will last about 3 hours.

The Emirati hosts are also gearing up for the historic occasion and have already made sure that the Israeli officials will get kosher food. Israel Hayom has learned that the royal family has even contacted the well-known Orthodox Union organization, through the local Jewish community, to ensure that it sends proper mashgichim (kashrut supervisors) who would be on hand to ensure that the Jewish dietary law is followed at the hotel hosting the Israelis and where many meetings will take place.

The Israeli airline has had to bring back several pilots into active service for this flight because its staff has been on unpaid vacation for several months due to the coronavirus pandemic. The pilots, which are still embroiled in a bitter fight with management, agreed to put their disagreements on hold for the historic occasion.

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Pompeo is a very strong supporter of Israel, and as is the case in many aspects of his work, his actions reflect his words.

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Just minutes after he was sworn in at the State Department in April 2018, he departed on his first foreign trip, which included Israel. This was no coincidence.

He had been less than 49 hours on the job when he met Israeli officials, and the message was clear: the Trump administration's second secretary of state is a very powerful and active official and our small country is very much a priority.

Pompeo embarked on a different path than what had been pursued by his predecessor Rex Tillerson and the State Department's bureaucracy.

He has also made sure this new approach is shown in a variety of steps and statements that double down on where the US stands on moral issues.

This has been very much apparent regarding Iran. Pompeo has presented Tehran with 12 demands that it must meet before the US lifts the sanctions it imposed as part of the administration's maximum pressure on the Islamic republic. Just this week Pompeo announced new sanctions against Iranian officials.

Another bold step that was made under his watch, through the leadership of President Trump, is on Israeli settlements. Pompeo announced earlier this month that the administration was reverting to the Reagan administration's position. Namely, the new approach means that the US no longer sees all settlements as a violation of international law just because they are settlements.

The review process started as soon as he took the helm of the State Department and lasted for about 14 months, involving a deep analysis of the historical and legal background of this complex issue.

Pompeo emphasized Wednesday that the newly announced White House legal interpretation regarding Israeli settlements was part of the administration's efforts to advance peace in the region, and did not prejudice the actual status of the territory in question.

"We think the decision that was made that permits the possibility of legal settlements, that they are not illegal per se, is both the correct one and the one that is in the best interest of the security situation in Israel as well as the situation between Israel and the Palestinian people," Pompeo told Israel Hayom in a special phone interview. 

He reiterated his view that it was wrong to consider the Israeli settlements as having no legal justification under international law just because they were settlements, although specific settlements can be illegal according to the merits of the given case. He was also mum on whether this could pave the way for Israeli annexations of some areas.

"This was really a legal analysis change more than anything else. So as you well know, there have been portions of the contested areas that Israel has settled that Israeli courts have ruled were legal, and some that they have ruled not lawful. What is inconsistent is those who believe that international law requires that every settlement is illegal just by the nature of it being a settlement. Our statement is limited in the sense that it is not illegal per se, that there are other mechanisms to resolve it, including most importantly the political resolution that ultimately needs to be achieved. "

According to the secretary, the decision was announced some 10 days ago after a long and meticulous process at the State Department, and it is primarily meant as a means of making the long-term peace process more viable and less legalistic.

"The outcome is a good one from a foreign policy perspective because we think this will create space for a political resolution for the challenges that have vexed the region for so long, we think there is not going to be some court ruling, some international court decision, some legal analysis to get this result, but rather a political resolution of the situation."

Asked whether the change could lead to various diplomatic developments, he expressed hope that the conditions would soon be ripe for the unveiling of the administration's peace plan.

"With respect to the work that has been done here in the United States, we are hoping that before too long we will present our peace vision to the world ... And we hope they [the Israelis and Palestinians] will see it, we think this vision provides a road map forward for an effective conversation to ultimately get to what is in everyone's best interests, and that is the peaceful resolution of this long conflict."

Q: I heard that there was some frustration by the administration that no progress can take place because of the political crisis here. And my question is how are the ties between the countries affected by our politics? 

"[Laughs] I am confident that the Israeli people will come to a good resolution of the domestic political challenge inside of Israel, but in the end you need leaders in each of the two places to be able to convince their people that moving forward makes sense for them and for the larger good, so the Palestinians too need to have a leader that they have confidence in and trust, we will allow the Israeli political process to move forward and we hope that before too long we will able to begin to move forward on the vision that we hope we can lay out."

Q: But would you say that Israel has missed opportunities because we have no government here? 

"I wouldn't characterize it that way. I hope we can do it sooner rather than later. But the timing has to be right, not just in Israel. There has to be a leader on the other side, there has to be someone who can sit down and accept and take yes for an answer who represents the Palestinian people as well. "

Q: Iran's aggression continues and you have just announced new sanctions. Are US sanctions, despite being the toughest ever, enough? CENTCOM Commander General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. said Iran may be planning another provocation in the region. 

"We clearly have work that remains in front of us, President Trump's strategic effort certainly includes sanctions as an element of our efforts to make the leadership change their ways. But it is only one component, we think that has been an effective component, we think they are having to make very difficult choices about whether to feed their people, to provide medicine for their people or if they want to underwrite the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza or Hezbollah in Lebanon. We hope they will begin to make the right decision, we hope the people in Iraq will force them to make the right decision, and it is not the only element of our campaign. Our campaign has also been political and diplomatic, to get countries around the world to recognize Iran as the largest state sponsor of terrorism. Just this week, the Iranians conducted an assassination campaign inside of Istanbul of an Iranian dissident. This is not the stuff of normal nations. We are trying to unite the world alongside us, including the Europeans, who have taken a very different approach on the JCPOA [the nuclear agreement], and President Trump is working to ensure that the Islamic Republic of Iran knows that they cannot engage in an activity like they have without there being a cost. You see an increase in our deterrence capabilities by our activity in the Strait of Hormuz, by developing a maritime security initiative, three weeks ago the US announced an increase in US forces and additional capabilities in Saudi Arabia, I announced arm sales to the region to assist the Saudis and the Emiratis, we hope that the combination of those things will restore deterrence to a level that is satisfactory, and the leadership will understand that there is a cost to their malign activity wherever it takes place. "

Q: Did the US halt aid to Lebanon because of the Israeli request to stop assistance unless the government deals with Hezbollah's rockets?

"I'll say this much. We have been watching the protests, certainly the protests inside the Islamic Republic of Iran, but also throughout Iraq and in each of those instances, what was unmistakably clear is that these are people that want freedom, they want order, they want the capacity to take care of their own families, leave with a modicum of peace and stability, and in each of those instances there is Iranian underwriting, Iranian money that is causing that instability. As for Lebanon, our position is quite straightforward. It is that the Lebanese people need to sort through this, we have designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and we encourage other countries to do the same. There needs to be a political resolution to this conflict which gets the reforms – the very reforms and simple things like water and electricity and all the things we take for granted here in the US and that Israelis have come to take for granted as well because our democratic governments deliver those things. This is what we are looking for."

Q: You mentioned Hezbollah. UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called Hezbollah 'my friends' and this week the most senior rabbi in Britain warned against electing Corbyn as prime minister because of Labor's anti-Semitism problem. What is your opinion regarding Corbyn and anti-Semitism?

"President Trump and the administration has been very clear. We see anti-Semitism on the rise in too many places, and we are working diligently in the political and diplomatic manner to stamp it out wherever we find it. I don't want to get involved in the UK's domestic politics, but make no mistake about it: The United States' view and my personal view is that Hezbollah is not a friend. It is not a friend of the West, it is not a friend of decent people anywhere in the world who simply want to live their lives without fear of terrorist activity or that Hezbollah will act in a way that is being directed by the ayatollahs in Tehran."

Q: Should Corbyn condemn anti-Semitism?

"Everyone should condemn anti-Semitism, it is hateful, it has a long history, and the United States is determined to convince the world that anti-Semitic behavior is inappropriate wherever it is found. So we each have an obligation to get that right."

Q: There are reports that you might leave the administration and run for the US Senate next year. Is that correct?

"My plans are to continue to be America's senior diplomat for as long as President Trump will permit me this incredible privilege. It's a joy to lead the State Department's great people all across the world, trying to work with friends like Israel to deliver security not only to the US and Israel but to countries in our sphere and in our region and all around the world. So it is my full intention to stay as America's secretary of state so long as I continue to have the privilege and the authority that President Trump has been so gracious to grant me over the past year and a half."

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