Learn more at linkedin.com/smallbusiness.

Us To cooperate with you so that it will work out.

And the way that Netanyahu thought, and I said it and indicated it and spelled it out publicly before October 7th, was to buy them through the money that comes from Qatar.

He believed that if he will buy them with money...

I'll tell you what, Netanyahu believed that what can be done with him can be done with others.

If he can be bought, they can be bought, except that they are not Netanyahu.

They truly, genuinely believe that, uh, that, uh, they have to wipe out Israel, and therefore they manipulated, uh, Netanyahu and Netanyahu fell into this trap because he wanted to f- to fall into this trap because he didn't want to make any move that could have changed the parameters of the relations between us and the Palestinians.

Uh, and he quoted you in his justification, saying, "Ehud Olmert, the former Israeli prime minister, has described what is happening," I quote, he said, "a violent and criminal effort to ethnically cleanse territories in the West Bank." Um, what did you feel about the foreign secretary of the UK using you as one of the justifications for what he was doing?

Can you imagine a political future in which the settlers leave the West Bank? And if you can't, isn't everybody wasting their time talking about a two-state solution?

I don't think that anyone is, uh, except for me maybe, is wasting his time talking about two-state solution.

Who, who does speak about it in Israel today? Not any of the political leaders of any of the parties involved in the coming elections.

So unfortunately, uh, and who is the doing it in the international, uh, arena? Certainly not the, um, leaders of the United States.

Unfortunately, not enough, uh, time and energy, uh, is, uh, invested in talking about a political solution.

But, uh, yes, I think that, uh, according to the plan that I have, uh, presented, uh, back in 2008 when I was prime minister and I presented it to the Palestinian Authority, and then again, uh, two years ago when I published together with the, the, the former foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority and the former ambassador to the United Nations of the Palestinian Authority, Dr. Nasser Al-Qudwa, uh, a joint statement in which we talk about a two-state solution and annexation of four point eight-- uh, four point four percent of the-- on the basis of '67 borders, and we talked about the annexation of four point four percent of the territory of the West Bank into the State of Israel, where eighty-two percent of the population lives.

So if the plan would be-- and of course there will be swaps of territories so that the Palestinian State will be established on the basis of the '67 borders.

Is Israel itself now driving anti-Semitism in the wider world?

Can you imagine a political future in which the settlers leave the West Bank? And if you can't, isn't everybody wasting their time talking about a two-state solution?

I don't think that anyone is, uh, except for me maybe, is wasting his time talking about two-state solution.

Who, who does speak about it in Israel today? Not any of the political leaders of any of the parties involved in the coming elections.

So unfortunately, uh, and who is, uh, doing it in the international, uh, arena? Certainly not the, um, leaders of the United States.

Unfortunately, not enough, uh, time and energy, uh, is, uh, invested in talking about a political solution.

But, uh, yes, I think that, uh, according to the plan that I have, uh, presented, uh, back in 2008 when I was Prime Minister and I presented it to the Palestinian Authority, and then again, uh, two years ago when I published together with, uh, the, the former foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority and the former ambassador to the United Nations of the Palestinian Authority, Dr Nasser Al-Qudwa, uh, a joint statement in which we talk about the two-state solution and annexation of 4.8-- uh, 4.4% of the-- on, on the basis of '67 borders, and we talked about the annexation of 4.4% of the territory of the West Bank into the State of Israel, where 82% of the population lives.

So if the plan would be...

Is Israel itself now driving anti-Semitism in the wider world?

Um, do you feel that your country is facing a, a- an unprecedented level of pressure over some of its actions?

Well, first of all, I have to say, uh, how much I don't like to, but I have to admit that what, uh, Secretary Miliband said is precisely what I said, and many of my colleagues and friends and concerned Israeli citizens said over the last, um, few months, uh, blaming the, um, uh, group of- a large group of, uh, Israeli, uh, settlers in what we called an effort of ethnic cleansing against Palestinians living in the West Bank, with almost daily a- atrocities carried out against innocent people, burning, uh, and shooting, um, people in their homes, in the fields, uh, everywhere they can find them.

And, uh, this is something that can't be ignored and can't be, uh, forgiven.

And therefore, I'm not surprised at the, uh, uh, statement made by, uh, S- Secretary Miliband and the actions, uh, that were taken by Great Britain.

Now, how effective, uh, it will be, I don't know to say.

Definitely until the, uh, coming elections, this government will do everything possible in order to, uh, defend itself and accuse, of course, um [laughs] Great Britain, France, Canada, and any other will join in, uh, with anti-Semitism and the hatred of Jews and hatred of Israel and so on and so forth.

This is, of course, nonsense.

What do you-- Do you think this is possible?

What do you-- Do you think this is possible?

possible?Absolutely.

Uh, I, I mean, i-i-it's been said and talked and, and, and, uh, written, uh, a long period of time that, uh, there was a warning from, uh, Egypt.

Of course, uh, you don't expect a- any official from, uh, Cairo, uh, to confirm or deny.

They would probably just, uh, avoid, uh, commenting on it.

But, uh, we have a good reason to believe that they wa- warned, uh, Netanyahu, uh, a while before, uh, the 7th of October that something is coming up and that he should take the necessary precautions.

Uh, I have no doubt, I have no doubt that, uh, what, uh, the, uh, Haaretz published is absolutely accurate.

But in Israel, you're all looking at the West Bank and not so much what happened in your name in Gaza.

Do you agree with my categorization, and what can be done about it?

Well, I certainly can add to this.

I think that, uh, he, uh, he has declared war on the State of Israel and on the people of Israel, on the basic fundamental values which have characterized what Israel was and the way that Israel was perceived in the international community.

Even the times that the many different parts of the world didn't agree with us, criticized Israel, but there never was such a storm of protest across the world, in the friendliest places that were so much connected, uh, to the State of Israel as it is now.

And this is largely, almost entirely because of the fascistic, chauvinistic, extremist, ayatollah-style character of the major part of the government with the complete consent of the...

And inspiration of the Prime Minister of Israel.

I know that lots of, uh, good, innocent, uh, uh, people and Jews across the world, uh, complain about the growing wave of antisemitism, and there certainly there is antisemitism.

... then, then what does that say about Israel's claim- ... to be a democracy

Do you feel like these two approach it in a similar way? Do you think Abbas is trying a little bit harder? Or do you think there's a failure of imagination on the side of a Palestinian leader to come and finally put pen to paper and sign a strong agreement that's actually finalizing the situation? What are your feelings on that?

I want to say one word about Arafat.

I never met Arafat.

I never shook hands with him.

I never had anything to do with him.

I think, and I read also some of what Elbanda said, I can say I know Elbanda.

And don't ask me how.

Do you think that for any current agreements, do you think it is going to require a similar commitment from a US president or foreign leader to kind of like guide that or make that possible? Or do you think Israel and Palestinians have to do it on their own?

[audience applauding]

The war in Gaza was unavoidable, the result of a very barbaric, horrific, murderous attack against innocent Israeli civilians.

Not against army, not against army installations, against civilians in their homes, in the living rooms, in the bedrooms, in the most brutal manner in modern history.

Over a thousand Israelis were massacred.

Israel had to react.

There was no way that Israel could not reach out for the murderers, for the leaders of Hamas.

At the time that it started, there was a universal solidarity and support, starting with President Biden, Prime Minister Sunak from Great Britain, President Macron, Chancellor Scholz, everyone.

[applauding]

What has Israel gained, and what did Netanyahu

gain? Well, I think that...

What I can say about Netanyahu is that the greatest failure in influencing Trump started much earlier, not in 2026 when he convinced, possibly convinced Trump to jointly attack Iran, but when he convinced Trump in 2018 to withdraw from the then signed agreement between President Obama and the Iranians about the nuclear program of Iran.

Because what happened is that until then, it is now obvious, we know it as a matter of fact, that Iran didn't enrich uranium since they signed the agreement with Obama.

And when America withdrew from that agreement, they started rapidly to enrich uranium up to the level of 60%, which brought them quite close to the possibility of building an atomic bomb.

And that has, in a way, created the almost inevitable circumstances to launch this military attack in February of 26.

And the bottom line after this four months process is that we came back to where it started.

Why are you calling out Jewish terrorism under your successor Netanyahu being experienced by Arabs?

Israel went to war in Iran with him, alongside him, two years in a row.

That's right.

One can say that when President Trump attacks Benjamin Netanyahu and calls him by some very nasty names, how did you go to war with Netanyahu? Why Israel was ready to go to war with America is a much simpler and lighter question.

Of course, if you go with the mightiest nation on earth, you can justify everything.

But I think the expectations which were built originally by both Israel and America.

I remember every major statement made by President Trump and then Netanyahu in the beginning.

There were false expectations, unrealistic, not serious, not thoughtful.

So I wonder to that end then, Mr. Olmert, where does that leave Israel? I mean, do you see them as being bound by this agreement should they withdraw from the territory that they occupy in southern Lebanon?

How do you read what has happened in the last few days? And is what we're seeing actually a de-escalation or just a pause?

Look, there are several facts which must be recognized.

Number one is that Hezbollah and Hezbollah affiliates are using their drones, and they attack the Israeli soldiers and the Israeli settlements just across the border for a long period of time, and they continue doing it now.

So there is one is fact is the violence and the belligerency of, uh, Hezbollah.

Another is the presence of the ground forces of Israel in the south of Lebanon in the efforts to push the southern population up north as part of the policy of creating a security belt, so, so they call it, in the south part of Lebanon, which is aimed to provide a certain security for the Israelis in the north part of the country.

The third fact is that Iranians seem to link the situation in Lebanon to the negotiating process with America.

In other words, without an agreement that will include Lebanon and that will provide security, according to their definitions, from any further Israeli attacks, they will not move forward in agreement on Iran and the nuclear issue and whatever.

Is it more tumultuous than it has been in the past, given that we understand that there are disagreements from behind closed doors, but when it's so public like this, what does it tell us about where we are right now?

Do you have a view on what Israel needs to do or are you sort of despairing in some ways in terms of, I suppose, the way you see the direction of your country or what is your position on all of this?

You know, fundamentally, I'm against this government.

I'm against these policies of this government.

I was against the initial ground operation of the Israeli army in the south of Lebanon, although it has to be recognized that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization, and they have started the war against Israel on the 8th of October, 2023.

And as a result of their attacks, we had to evacuate tens of thousands of Israeli people that live in the north part of the country without any—there was no—any conflict that justified their attacks against Israel in the first place.

Since then, many things changed.

And at the present time, there is, I believe, a chance to negotiate with the Lebanese government for what the President Awun said is even a potential peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon.

May I ask you lastly, Ehud, do you believe in the bona fides of Benjamin Netanyahu that he seeks peace at all? Because many people would say that while this level of conflict persists in some ways, it protects his, I suppose, political life and his political skin.

Do you think there is a chance of a meaningful agreement between Israel and Lebanon with the current Lebanese government?

Uh, I don't know of any other government in Lebanon that, uh, would, uh, be willing to even consider negotiating with Israel.

So, uh, the, uh, President Michel Aoun has said that he's prepared to negotiate an agreement and even mentioned, uh, possible peace.

The problem is not whether the government is basically willing to negotiate with Israel, it's how strong the government is to be able to join forces with Israel and perhaps with the international community to enforce the disarming of Hezbollah.

Uh, this is the main question, and I, quite frankly, I, I don't know that there is any evidence that this government is capable of doing it, but there is no other government, and this is the only government that was forthcoming enough to even want to consider peace with Israel.

So we certainly have to try.

Has this conflict been worthwhile so far?

Well, this is very good question.

What we hope is that hope for something that has never happened before, that can change lives for everyone.

Be it resolved, it's in Israel's interest to support a two-state solution.

The war in Gaza was unavoidable.

the result of a very barbaric, horrific, murderous attack against innocent Israeli civilians.

Not against army, not against army installations, against civilians in their homes, in their living rooms, in their bedrooms, in the most brutal manner in modern history.

Over a thousand Israelis were massacred.

Israel had to react.

There was no way that Israel would not reach out for the murderers, for the leaders of Hamas.

This peace plan within Israel, how popular is it? We know that the families of the hostages in Israel have nominated Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Well, first of all, this is not a peace process, okay? I don't know what are the initial requirements for the nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.

I wish President Trump very best for us uh we need the hostages back if as a result as promised by president trump first stage phase phase of this process now negotiated in travel shake with the egyptians the qataris and the americans will help bring back all of the hostages live and dead for us there will be the ultimate And if someone in Norway would think that it qualifies President Trump for Nobel Peace Prize, good for him and good for them.

We want the hostages.

If the ceasefire holds, if peace is achieved, if the hostages return and things settle in the region, what then for Netanyahu?

Netanyahu will be overthrown to the sideline of history where he belongs due to the failures, to the manipulations, to the provocations, to the lack of integrity, to the lack of responsibility.

in which sensitive national affairs and human lives ought to be treated.

And I think this is a growing realization amongst the majority of Israelis.

Mm-hmm.

... and their, uh, you know, uh, chief of staff and so on.

So yes, look, there is...

It's very hard, very hard for the Israelis to overcome......

the generations of the obsession of being the, uh, victims of hatred.

We so much fell in love with the, uh, status of being the underdog, the victim of hatred, of antisemitism, of discrimination, of segregation, of whatever, that we fall into this in every possible occasion that we have.

And, uh, it's so easy for so many amongst us to say, "Okay, this is not...

But their sense, I mean, the people I spoke to, it just seemed to me that the view was that there was nothing the Israeli public would support, that the, the options are all bad, and nobody wanted to be the one to propose the option and then have every other faction attack them.

On the matter of your op-ed, what, what prompted your shift from previously defending Israel's actions in Gaza to now condemning them as war crimes?

I, uh, absolutely supported the, uh, Israeli counteroffensive after the 7th of October for obvious reasons.

All of the world supported Israel because this was inevitable and unavoidable.

However, it happened 20 months ago.

And since then, a lot have happened.

And, uh, fact is that, uh...... after 20 months, there is a growing, uh, understanding in Israel, by many, uh, former leaders of the army, the Mossad, the secret service, the generals.

Almost everyone says that, "We have done everything that we can do in a military operation." This is becoming like a private war of the prime minister, trying to, uh, somehow escape from the possible ramifications of ending the war now because of political considerations.

How has your critique been received in Israel? And, and do you believe there is a political will there to shift course right now?

Um, first of all, let me just ask you, what has the reaction been from where you sit now to what you said? Have you been surprised? Not surprised?

Oh, I get mixed, uh, comments.

Uh, there are many, many, many Israelis that call me, thank me, message me, uh, thanking me for, uh, speaking up for them, uh, for what they think and what they feel, and they are anxious that there will be a voice coming from Israel, uh, which will be different from the voice of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich and Netanyahu and the group of thugs which, uh, is now part of the Israeli cabinet.

Uh, uh, and they...

I think that, uh, this is, uh, something which I consider to be very important, that the international community, uh, guys everywhere that watch you, that watch other channels will know that there are many Israelis that were absolutely in favor of the Israeli counteroffensive on the 7th of October and since then for a long time, for good reasons, because Hamas murderers had to be reached out and, uh, eliminated, and we did a great job for almost 20 months.

But the time has come to stop it, and this is that time.

And the fact that the government continues this operation when everyone knows that there is not any purpose that can be achieved by an expanded military operation, that Israeli soldiers are going to be killed, that they... we are going to lose the hostages, which is the primary, the most superior objective that there should be for us, to save them, and that also, uh, non-involved Palestinians will be killed, this is something which is unacceptable, and this is what I try to say.

Um, should Donald Trump be doing more to stop him? Is he the only person that can actually stop Netanyahu now?

What- what changed? What has happened that has made you change your mind?

Well, uh, Fareed, as you know, when, uh, the war started after the, uh, 7th of October events, it was the most inevitable, uh, reaction and unavoidable reaction, uh, by a country which was attacked in such a vicious and brutal manner where thousands of, uh, innocent Israeli civilians were killed in their homes, in their bedrooms, in their living rooms, in their safe rooms, butchered, beheaded, raped in a most terrible manner.

And then the international community at large, j- President Biden, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak from Great Britain, President Macron, uh, Chancellor Scholz, all the others all joined in the same statement.

Israel has a right to react and reach out for the murderers and kill as many as them possible.

Now we are 18 months afterwards, and, uh, long ago already I had a feeling a- and the knowledge that we have achieved as much as a military operation can achieve.

In the course of these actions, unfortunately also quite a few, uh, non-involved Palestinians were killed.

We lost our soldiers as of course, and, uh, uh, the main objective, which is, uh, almost universally, uh, recognized is that we have to free the hostages.

No external foe we've fought against over the past 77 years has caused greater damage to Israel than what the current government has inflicted on us." Um, do- do you, do you believe that other Israelis, uh, large numbers of Israelis share these views?