Ehud Olmert calls for diplomacy to end Israel's war in Lebanon

Netanyahu is set on conflict with Iran in effort to restore his reputation, says former prime minister

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, right, speaks to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in parliament. Reuters

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Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, who led the country during the 2006 Lebanon war, told The National that Israel must seek to resolve the current conflict with Hezbollah through a "diplomatic agreement" that best serves the interests of its people.

However, he stated that efforts for a peaceful resolution to the conflict that has escalated in recent weeks are being blocked by the current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who wants to “present a picture of victory” to restore his reputation following the October 7 attacks.

Mr Olmert, who ordered the invasion of Lebanon in 2006, argued that the current Israeli leader “badly wants the war against Iran”, and that a retaliation attack for last week’s missile barrage is expected soon. He also suggested that Mr Netanyahu would probably want Donald Trump to win the US presidential election next month, and that by possibly bombing Iran’s oil installations, he would force up global oil prices, harming the US economy and enhancing the former president’s electoral prospects.

The Israeli politician, who is the last prime minister to discuss a two-state deal with Palestine, maintained that once the current wars ends, Israel will have to make a choice either to “fight for ever” or reach an agreement. “We have to decide, what do we want? To occupy them for ever and to fight with them for ever?”

Ehud Olmert, Israel's former prime minister, speaks to The National. Thomas Harding / The National

Lebanon diplomacy

Israel, Mr Olmert argues, had a right to defend itself after Hezbollah started firing rockets into northern Israel on October 8 in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza. But after the deaths of more than 2,000 civilians in Lebanon, it has become a matter of finding the best way to resolve the conflict.

“If there is a way that we can conclude this confrontation in the north, now by an agreement, a diplomatic agreement, it's better,” he stated.

Mr Olmert was Israel's prime minister from 2006 to 2009. He negotiated a peace deal with Lebanon following the stalemate of the month-long war against Hezbollah in 2006. It resulted in UN Resolution 1701, which ended the fighting and brought in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), which patrolled south of the Litani River, 30km from the border, and was supposed to keep Hezbollah out of the zone.

Israeli soldiers stand by a portrait of Hassan Nasrallah, the former leader of Hezbollah, during the 2006 Lebanon invasion. AFP

Despite both sides breaching the 1701 resolution in the current war, Mr Olmert insists that it is "not dead at all”. “It depends on whether it will be implemented,” he explained. “Part of the agreement has to be a resolution that will be forced not only on us, but on them too.”

Mr Olmert was replaced by Mr Netanyahu after being forced out of office over corruption charges, for which he served 16 months in jail. He says the current prime minister ignored Hezbollah's breaches of the 1701 resolution.

“When I departed, they found out after a while that they can get away [with the breaches] with Bibi [Mr Netanyahu]. That behind the rhetoric there is not much substance in terms of resilience.”

Netanyahu wants war

His disdain for the current leader, who himself is facing a court date on corruption allegations, is clear. He blames Mr Netanyahu for the security failures of October 7 and argues he is using the ensuing war to restore his popularity.

“Bibi badly wants the war against Iran ... to drag Israel to the point where the appearance of victory will be accepted by enough people for them to forget the security blunders and present a picture of victory”. Mr Netanyahu, he argued, “believes that he is destined, perhaps by divine providence, to save the Western world” from extremists stoked by Iran.

Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the UN General Assembly in New York last month. AFP

The US, Mr Olmert said, would come to Israel's aid if it found itself in a complicated situation, despite Washington's dissatisfaction with Mr Netanyahu for courting a war with Iran over.

While he agreed Israel needed to retaliate to “create an impact that will deter the Iranians” after the recent Iranian attack with ballistic missiles, it has to be carefully calibrated, suggesting targeting “power stations not oilfields”. This might avoid a severe counter-retaliation and make Iranian people ask the question, “why do we need to pay so much for these Palestinians?," he added.

Targeting oil sites would likely send prices soaring “in a way that can be very, very damaging to the American government”, suggesting that “maybe Bibi wants Trump to win”.

Return Palestinian land

As prime minister, Mr Olmert came close to striking a deal with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas under which a Palestinian state would have been created with Israel relinquishing parts of the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem shared as the capital. With more than 41,900 Palestinians killed in Israeli fire in Gaza, a large number of Israeli fatalities, and the war expanding, the prospect of implementing a two-state solution appears remote.

But the 79-year-old politician considers it the only way to permanently stop the fighting. “When the war ends, Israelis will have to ask themselves, 'we have destroyed Hamas, we destroyed Hezbollah, now what? Do we continue as the occupiers?'”

There are some far-right extremists, people he labelled “messianic, crazy Jewish ayatollahs”, who want settlements returned to Gaza and expanded into Lebanon. But he said it was impossible to ignore the more than six million Palestinians, and therefore it was in Israel’s interests to find an agreement.

Pupils hold a Palestinian flag at a school that was attacked by Israeli settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Reuters

He explained that while he, like many Jews, believes the occupied West Bank to be historically Jewish from biblical times, it would be worth it to give the land up for peace.

“I offered it to Abu Mazen [Abbas] 17 years ago, it was heartbreaking,” he said, speaking at his office in Tel Aviv. “But I was ready to compromise on something that I wholeheartedly believe is mine. For the sake of the future I was ready to make a concession about the past.”

World against Israel

Just a few days into Israel’s devastating response to the October 7 attacks, Mr Olmert knew the whole world would be against Israel because “they will see the result of the Israeli air attacks”. Given the tens of thousands of civilian casualties, he argues that Israel could have stopped the war long ago and saved many lives.

Palestinians, as the “most dynamic and gifted among all the Arab nations”, will find a way to build their lives amicably in a separate state if peace is found, he stressed. “I have no doubt about that, if they are given the opportunity.”

He also praised the UAE for being “absolutely admirable” in its support for Palestinians. “I'm very impressed with the subtleness, the sophistication of the Emirates,” he stated. “They did most of the humanitarian supply to Gaza, financed and organised by them. They have manifested the greatest degree of humanitarian empathy to the suffering of the Palestinians, yet their embassy is open and they remain in contact with Israel.”