Al-Jazeera documents are authentic, claims former Olmert adviser

The media adviser to Israel’s former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said that the documents leaked by Al-Jazeera are authentic. Winky Glenti pointed out that the leaked papers prove that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is a “genuine partner” of the bilateral political process, despite repeated claims to the contrary by Israel.

In an interview with Israeli Army Radio on 24 January, Glenti said that documents released by Al-Jazeera cover the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the period from December 2006 until September 2008. “I can’t understand the reasoning behind the publication of such documents, but I can assure you that during that period serious negotiations took place. I insist that if Israel wishes seriously to put forward a political plan on the table, the theory of ‘there is no partner’ will disappear, as the documents prove that the Palestinian side is pragmatic and had participated in the negotiations with goodwill,” said Glenti.

According to the former media adviser, “No one would document 1,600 documents covering his actions with the intention of deception. The PA was convinced of the solution and willing to go for it.” At the same time, Glenti blamed the PA and “excuses related to it” for the failure to reach a bilateral agreement following such “developed understandings” between the two sides. Olmert’s adviser went on to claim that the PA President, Mahmoud Abbas, “had felt deep remorse” for not signing-off the understandings revealed by Al-Jazeera.

Glenti stressed that the Israeli government “did not fool” the Palestinian president on the issue of Palestinian refugees and their right to return to their land: Olmert made it clear to Abbas that “Israel will not accept the return of Palestinian refugees and there wouldn’t be any refugee returning to Israeli territory.”