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Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Donald Trump — more than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or any other world leader — is the only person who can bring an end to the war in Gaza during an Institute of Politics forum on Thursday night.
Olmert, who has publicly criticized Netanyahu and declared that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza, said he was optimistic that peace could be secured in the region — but only if Trump has the patience and desire to force Hamas and Israel to follow through with peace.
“Today, Israel depends completely on one person, and this is not Netanyahu. This is the guy Israel works for — Donald Trump,” Olmert said.
“I don’t know what he wants, but I can tell you what he can do: he can force Netanyahu to embark on this process that will change history,” he added. “The question is: Will he do it?”
Olmert’s comments were made during the latest installment of Harvard Kennedy School professor Tarek E. Masoud’s “Middle East Dialogues” series, which brings high-profile figures to campus to be pressed on their views about Israel and Palestine.
The talk came just two weeks after Trump unveiled a 20-point peace plan for Gaza, which involved an immediate ceasefire and the release of the remaining Israeli hostages still held by Hamas. Still, it remains unclear whether the plan will pan out. Israel launched air strikes on Gaza Sunday after accusing Hamas of killing Israeli Defense Forces soldiers — before the ceasefire was restored on Monday.
During the talk, Olmert praised the ceasefire, but said it should have come sooner. He also said the war should end with a two-state solution that guarantees Palestinian statehood — an issue Trump has said has yet to be determined by the peace deal.
Olmert, who served as prime minister from 2006 to 2009, is a longtime supporter of Palestinian self-determination. When he led Israel’s government, Olmert met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud “Abu Mazen” Abbas 36 times to discuss peace in the region.
But ultimately, he failed to reach a lasting peace agreement on Palestine. When pressed by Masoud to explain why he failed, Olmert said that Abbas was at fault for not taking the deal — a move he characterized as a “historic failure” for Palestine.
“Had they said yes at that time, lives would have been different for us in Israel, for us in the Middle East, for all the Palestinians, and perhaps far more than just the Middle East,” Olmert said.
Masoud opened the event by asking participants to not interrupt Olmert or block the live broadcast television screens inside the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum, where the event was hosted. At recent IOP events on Gaza, protesters have covered the screens with banners displaying pro-Palestine messages.
“If you are moved to object to something that the speaker or the moderator says, reserve that passion for the Q&A period, when you can channel it in the form of a very sharply worded but civil question,” Masoud said.
The event proceeded without any disruptions or banners.
During the talk, Olmert also laid into Netanyahu for waging the more than two-year long war in Gaza, which has destroyed much of the region and left 68,000 dead, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry is run by Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007.
Olmert added that if he were still prime minister after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, he would have “made a deal on the eighth of October” and avoided dividing Israeli society over the war.
“What happened in the last two years with regard to the hostages has polarized Israeli society, and the government of Israel was a prime factor that incited against different factions in Israeli society,” Olmert said. “We were never before as polarized and divided as we are.”
—Staff writer Elise A. Spenner can be reached at elise.spenner@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @EliseSpenner.
—Staff writer Tanya J. Vidhun can be reached at tanya.vidhun@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @tanyavidhun.
