By Tim Franks BBC News, Jerusalem Olmert and Palestinian leaders chatting amicably before getting down to negotiating peace in the Middle East
By Tim Franks BBC News, Jerusalem Olmert and Palestinian leaders chatting amicably before getting down to negotiating peace in the Middle East
There is an insight into the life and thinking of the Israeli prime minister that most of the Israeli public will probably never see.
There is an insight into the life and thinking of the Israeli prime minister that most of the Israeli public will probably never see.
Earlier this year, a young documentary-maker, Vanessa Lapa, spent 17 days filming, fly-on-the-wall, with Ehud Olmert.
Earlier this year, a young documentary-maker, Vanessa Lapa, spent 17 days filming, fly-on-the-wall, with Ehud Olmert.
But between the end of that filming and the transmission date, news broke of the latest and most serious police investigation into the prime minister.
But between the end of that filming and the transmission date, news broke of the latest and most serious police investigation into the prime minister.
Channel Two - which had been scheduled to run the documentary - decided that it was not broadcastable.
Channel Two - which had been scheduled to run the documentary - decided that it was not broadcastable.
Vanessa Lapa returned to the PM's office to film a further interview with Olmert, which she cut in to the existing documentary. But the channel decided it was not enough. They wanted wholesale changes. Vanessa Lapa declined.
Vanessa Lapa returned to the PM's office to film a further interview with Olmert, which she cut in to the existing documentary. But the channel decided it was not enough. They wanted wholesale changes. Vanessa Lapa declined.
There are still some extraordinary nuggets within the film: the conversation that Ehud Olmert held with his old friend (who died after the filming) Tommy Lapid, which goes to the heart of the debate in Israel as to whether peace with its neighbours will ever be possible; and the pre-match shmoozing between Mr Olmert and the Palestinian leadership, before one of the prime minister's regular meetings in Jerusalem with the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas.
There are still some extraordinary nuggets within the film: the conversation that Ehud Olmert held with his old friend (who died after the filming) Tommy Lapid, which goes to the heart of the debate in Israel as to whether peace with its neighbours will ever be possible; and the pre-match shmoozing between Mr Olmert and the Palestinian leadership, before one of the prime minister's regular meetings in Jerusalem with the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas.
Maybe it is too ponderous to say it, but these are the men charged with the historic task of unpicking the congested, charged landscape of the Middle East. Perhaps what follows is just boilerplate diplomatic banter. But it also suggests the remarkable journeys travelled.
Maybe it is too ponderous to say it, but these are the men charged with the historic task of unpicking the congested, charged landscape of the Middle East. Perhaps what follows is just boilerplate diplomatic banter. But it also suggests the remarkable journeys travelled.
KEEPING FIT AND GREETINGS
KEEPING FIT AND GREETINGS
[Meeting with the West Bank Palestinian leadership in Jerusalem, at the prime minister's residence.]
[Meeting with the West Bank Palestinian leadership in Jerusalem, at the prime minister's residence.]
EHUD OLMERT: Hi, hi, hi (to Abu Ala, also known as Ahmed Qurei, the former PM and chief Palestinian negotiator. Olmert stops theatrically, opens arms wide.) Listen, I can see that you are plotting something. Unbelievable, unbelievable.
EHUD OLMERT: Hi, hi, hi (to Abu Ala, also known as Ahmed Qurei, the former PM and chief Palestinian negotiator. Olmert stops theatrically, opens arms wide.) Listen, I can see that you are plotting something. Unbelievable, unbelievable.
SAEB EREKAT (senior Palestinian negotiator): Can we shake hands?
SAEB EREKAT (senior Palestinian negotiator): Can we shake hands?
EHUD OLMERT: How are you?
EHUD OLMERT: How are you?
EREKAT: How are you?
EREKAT: How are you?
(They sort of embrace. Arms around shoulders and backs, slapping, but stay 20cm away from each other.)
(They sort of embrace. Arms around shoulders and backs, slapping, but stay 20cm away from each other.)
ABU ALA: You're looking very well.
ABU ALA: You're looking very well.
EREKAT: Are you exercising?
EREKAT: Are you exercising?
OLMERT: Yes
OLMERT: Yes
EREKAT: What do you do?
EREKAT: What do you do?
OLMERT: I, er I⦠first of all I have special training. For two hours. One hour I'm weightlifting and I'm stretching. And one hour I'm running⦠Jogging on the treadmill.
OLMERT: I, er I⦠first of all I have special training. For two hours. One hour I'm weightlifting and I'm stretching. And one hour I'm running⦠Jogging on the treadmill.
EREKAT: Who's training you?
EREKAT: Who's training you?
OLMERT: He's the chief of the physical training of the army.
OLMERT: He's the chief of the physical training of the army.
EREKAT: I run 10km every morning in 66 minutes.
EREKAT: I run 10km every morning in 66 minutes.
VOICE OFF CAMERA: Prime Minister?
VOICE OFF CAMERA: Prime Minister?
EHUD OLMERT: Yes? ... 66 minutes. When I used to run⦠when I⦠my record is 48 minutes. (Olmert walks back into centre of ante-room). Saeb, my record is 48 minutes.
EHUD OLMERT: Yes? ... 66 minutes. When I used to run⦠when I⦠my record is 48 minutes. (Olmert walks back into centre of ante-room). Saeb, my record is 48 minutes.
(Olmert walks in with Mahmoud Abbas. Waiting for them is Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister who, after the publication of the interim report into the Lebanon War of 2006, announced that she thought Mr Olmert should have resigned. Relations between the two are widely reported to be cool.)
(Olmert walks in with Mahmoud Abbas. Waiting for them is Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister who, after the publication of the interim report into the Lebanon War of 2006, announced that she thought Mr Olmert should have resigned. Relations between the two are widely reported to be cool.)
OLMERT: You know you're going to see the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Miss Livniâ¦
OLMERT: You know you're going to see the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Miss Livniâ¦
LIVNI (Laughing, off-camera): Hello. How are you?
LIVNI (Laughing, off-camera): Hello. How are you?
OLMERT: â¦which makes you feel very good.
OLMERT: â¦which makes you feel very good.
ABBAS: Miss? Ms?
ABBAS: Miss? Ms?
OLMERT: Miss, miss⦠we always say miss.
OLMERT: Miss, miss⦠we always say miss.
ABBAS: How are you?
ABBAS: How are you?
LIVNI: You can call me Tzipi. (Laughs.)
LIVNI: You can call me Tzipi. (Laughs.)
ABBAS: I'm joking.
ABBAS: I'm joking.
OLMERT (Walks over with Abbas to Qurei and Erekat): I want you to see two distinguished gentlemen. The prime minister (sic) and the chairman of the NSU. They graciously came ahead of you to make all the preparations. Make all the preparations.
OLMERT (Walks over with Abbas to Qurei and Erekat): I want you to see two distinguished gentlemen. The prime minister (sic) and the chairman of the NSU. They graciously came ahead of you to make all the preparations. Make all the preparations.
ABBAS: And they did it OK?
ABBAS: And they did it OK?
OLMERT: Well, Saeb did it OK. Abu Ala did it excellent.
OLMERT: Well, Saeb did it OK. Abu Ala did it excellent.
ABU ALA: We prepared for the arrival. (Much laughter.)
ABU ALA: We prepared for the arrival. (Much laughter.)
OLMERT: Please be my guests. (Turns to walk in). How are you Tzipi?
OLMERT: Please be my guests. (Turns to walk in). How are you Tzipi?
TZIPI LIVNI: Fine, thank you.
TZIPI LIVNI: Fine, thank you.
PEACE OR NEVER-ENDING WAR
PEACE OR NEVER-ENDING WAR
At several points through the film, Ehud Olmert is seen talking to his old friend, Tommy Lapid.
At several points through the film, Ehud Olmert is seen talking to his old friend, Tommy Lapid.
Lapid died earlier this month. He had been a minister, and the one-time leader of the free-market, secularist Shinui party. He had supported the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the future establishment of a Palestinian state. Lapid and Olmert talk war and peace outside a rural retreat in the Golan Heights
Lapid died earlier this month. He had been a minister, and the one-time leader of the free-market, secularist Shinui party. He had supported the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the future establishment of a Palestinian state. Lapid and Olmert talk war and peace outside a rural retreat in the Golan Heights
The two men are doing what many Israelis do over the Passover holidays: chatting, outside, at a rural retreat in the Golan Heights.
The two men are doing what many Israelis do over the Passover holidays: chatting, outside, at a rural retreat in the Golan Heights.
Their discussion reveals just how far Olmert appears to have travelled from his days as the tough-talking mayor of Jerusalem, and also the fundamental disagreement within mainstream Israel over whether peace with its neighbours is possible - either soon, or ever.
Their discussion reveals just how far Olmert appears to have travelled from his days as the tough-talking mayor of Jerusalem, and also the fundamental disagreement within mainstream Israel over whether peace with its neighbours is possible - either soon, or ever.
TOMMY LAPID: You left the Gaza Strip (Olmert was seen as one of the architects of the unilateral Israeli withdrawal in 2005), leaving them a tiny countryâ¦
TOMMY LAPID: You left the Gaza Strip (Olmert was seen as one of the architects of the unilateral Israeli withdrawal in 2005), leaving them a tiny countryâ¦
EHUD OLMERT: There was no agreement in Gaza.
EHUD OLMERT: There was no agreement in Gaza.
LAPID: â¦and terror broke out like never before.
LAPID: â¦and terror broke out like never before.
OLMERT: Let me take you back 30 years. I was then where you are now. I was a young member of parliament. I remember Menachem Begin returning from Camp David (the meeting with the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, brokered by US President Jimmy Carter, which led to Israel returning the Sinai peninsula to Egypt, in exchange for a peace agreement), having agreed to evacuate all of the Sinai and the settlements. And I, having grown up in Betar (a right-wing youth movement) and Herut (the precursor of Likud, the major right-wing political party), for me the idea of vacating settlements was intolerable.
OLMERT: Let me take you back 30 years. I was then where you are now. I was a young member of parliament. I remember Menachem Begin returning from Camp David (the meeting with the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, brokered by US President Jimmy Carter, which led to Israel returning the Sinai peninsula to Egypt, in exchange for a peace agreement), having agreed to evacuate all of the Sinai and the settlements. And I, having grown up in Betar (a right-wing youth movement) and Herut (the precursor of Likud, the major right-wing political party), for me the idea of vacating settlements was intolerable.
LAPID: You voted against it.
LAPID: You voted against it.
OLMERT: I voted against it. In the perspective of time, he, of course, was right, and I was wrong. I am not Begin. Begin was, by far, a much greater man than I am. He knew how to collect all his mental strength, everything that stirred and swirled inside him, while facing eternity, and to understand that there is a decision to be made. I keep on trying to collect these strengths.
OLMERT: I voted against it. In the perspective of time, he, of course, was right, and I was wrong. I am not Begin. Begin was, by far, a much greater man than I am. He knew how to collect all his mental strength, everything that stirred and swirled inside him, while facing eternity, and to understand that there is a decision to be made. I keep on trying to collect these strengths.
LAPID: Our great problem today is Islam. It is expressed in Hezbollah and Hamas. Islam will not tolerate our existence, now or ever. Which means there will never be peace, but we can live without peace. I think we can withstand not 10 years, but 100 yearsâ¦
LAPID: Our great problem today is Islam. It is expressed in Hezbollah and Hamas. Islam will not tolerate our existence, now or ever. Which means there will never be peace, but we can live without peace. I think we can withstand not 10 years, but 100 yearsâ¦
OLMERT: With never-ending war?
OLMERT: With never-ending war?
LAPID: It's not a never-ending war.
LAPID: It's not a never-ending war.
OLMERT: We have a never-ending war.
OLMERT: We have a never-ending war.
LAPID: And why?
LAPID: And why?
OLMERT: Because we're at war the whole time.
OLMERT: Because we're at war the whole time.
LAPID: Noâ¦
LAPID: Noâ¦
OLMERT: We're at war all the time. Look back at history. It's easy for you to disregard it. Look, you're proposing two alternatives. Each of your alternatives to what I'm saying will wear out our resistance, and might wear out Israel's resilience. You say we'll continue living in this reality, keep fighting, keep fearing Syrian missiles each summer, and Hezbollah missiles, and Hamas terror, and continue keeping occupation forces in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), which are the most civilised occupation forces in history, the most decent in history, the most considerate. But they are hated. They encourage friction. They are involved in deaths and commotion, and in ever-increasing international isolation. I suggest that we try carefully and responsibly to change reality.
OLMERT: We're at war all the time. Look back at history. It's easy for you to disregard it. Look, you're proposing two alternatives. Each of your alternatives to what I'm saying will wear out our resistance, and might wear out Israel's resilience. You say we'll continue living in this reality, keep fighting, keep fearing Syrian missiles each summer, and Hezbollah missiles, and Hamas terror, and continue keeping occupation forces in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), which are the most civilised occupation forces in history, the most decent in history, the most considerate. But they are hated. They encourage friction. They are involved in deaths and commotion, and in ever-increasing international isolation. I suggest that we try carefully and responsibly to change reality.
LAPID: The Israeli government tried to evacuate one (West Bank) outpost with seven yeshiva (Jewish seminary) students. Three thousand soldiers were sent. And didn't succeed.
LAPID: The Israeli government tried to evacuate one (West Bank) outpost with seven yeshiva (Jewish seminary) students. Three thousand soldiers were sent. And didn't succeed.
OLMERT: They were evacuated.
OLMERT: They were evacuated.
LAPID: You will evacuate 250,000 people?
LAPID: You will evacuate 250,000 people?
OLMERT: We aren't dealing with the evacuation of 250,000 people. We will have to give up a lot of land, and go through the agony of vacating Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, and maybe in other places, as an unavoidable resultâ¦
OLMERT: We aren't dealing with the evacuation of 250,000 people. We will have to give up a lot of land, and go through the agony of vacating Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, and maybe in other places, as an unavoidable resultâ¦
LAPID: The Israeli governmentâ¦
LAPID: The Israeli governmentâ¦
OLMERT: But we will have a Jewish state.
OLMERT: But we will have a Jewish state.
LAPID: We are sitting in the most beautiful place in Israel (the village of Ramot, in the Golan - the region annexed by Israel in 1981, after its defeat of Syria in the war of 1967, but regarded by the rest of the world as occupied territory). I'm not sure I would like (President Bashar) Assad to sit here and say that he's sitting in the most beautiful place in Syria. I don't know what your intentions are in this matter. But if you ask me whether to give up the Golan, my answer is no. Not because right now, we're on the Golan. But because I don't believe a word they say.
LAPID: We are sitting in the most beautiful place in Israel (the village of Ramot, in the Golan - the region annexed by Israel in 1981, after its defeat of Syria in the war of 1967, but regarded by the rest of the world as occupied territory). I'm not sure I would like (President Bashar) Assad to sit here and say that he's sitting in the most beautiful place in Syria. I don't know what your intentions are in this matter. But if you ask me whether to give up the Golan, my answer is no. Not because right now, we're on the Golan. But because I don't believe a word they say.
OLMERT: Let's assume that we're in a situation, in which we come to a peace agreement. Not a peace of loving hugs, but a peace of open frontiers, a peace with embassies and diplomatic relations. Peace that has no physical everyday threat to Israel.
OLMERT: Let's assume that we're in a situation, in which we come to a peace agreement. Not a peace of loving hugs, but a peace of open frontiers, a peace with embassies and diplomatic relations. Peace that has no physical everyday threat to Israel.
LAPID: The Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) is a few metres away. If Syrian soldiers sit thereâ¦
LAPID: The Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) is a few metres away. If Syrian soldiers sit thereâ¦
OLMERT: No, they won't sit there.
OLMERT: No, they won't sit there.
LAPID: â¦would you feel more safe?
LAPID: â¦would you feel more safe?
OLMERT: No. But the question isn't relevant. That wouldn't be the reality in the event of a peace agreement. It is obvious that if we do make peace with Syria, no Syrian soldier will sit on the banks of the Kinneret. We have a 30-year ceasefire agreement with Syria. It has never been broken.
OLMERT: No. But the question isn't relevant. That wouldn't be the reality in the event of a peace agreement. It is obvious that if we do make peace with Syria, no Syrian soldier will sit on the banks of the Kinneret. We have a 30-year ceasefire agreement with Syria. It has never been broken.
Elsewhere in the film, Olmert talks about his idealism, as a young settler in the 1970s, describing "the fulfilment of a dream, a cloud of euphoria" as Jews started building on land in the West Bank that they had conquered from Jordan in the war of 1967.
Elsewhere in the film, Olmert talks about his idealism, as a young settler in the 1970s, describing "the fulfilment of a dream, a cloud of euphoria" as Jews started building on land in the West Bank that they had conquered from Jordan in the war of 1967.
Olmert now accepts the principle that it is on this land that a Palestinian state should be built.
Olmert now accepts the principle that it is on this land that a Palestinian state should be built.
He talks about the grandfathers of the settler movement: "I loved them; I admired them."
He talks about the grandfathers of the settler movement: "I loved them; I admired them."
For that reason, he says, his current political approach exacts an emotional cost: "My separation from these people, and their anger at me breaks my heart. I know I'm right, but it doesn't make any difference."
For that reason, he says, his current political approach exacts an emotional cost: "My separation from these people, and their anger at me breaks my heart. I know I'm right, but it doesn't make any difference."
As he puts it, succinctly, elsewhere in the film: "Reality changed, and so did I."
As he puts it, succinctly, elsewhere in the film: "Reality changed, and so did I."
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