The two men laid out their visions for peace between Israel and Gaza while criticizing the current leadership in the region.
Will Coen
Staff Writer, The Buckley Beacon
On Wednesday evening, the Yale Political Union hosted Ehud Olmert, the former prime minister of Israel, and Dr. Nasser al-Qudwa, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian Authority, for a discussion entitled, “Building Peace in Israel and Palestine.”
Olmert served as mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003 and Israeli prime minister from 2006 to 2009. Al-Qudwa represented the Palestinian Liberation Organization at the United Nations from 1991 to 2005 and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian Authority from 2005 to 2006.
The Israel-Palestine conflict, which sparked a series of demonstrations on Yale’s campus in the spring of 2024, remains relevant on the university’s campus two years after the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel by Hamas. Two weeks ago, the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life and Chabad at Yale recently co-hosted a vigil to remember the victims of the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. At the end of September, Yale students protested a donation Yale made to Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces through a donor-advised fund.
Roee Benya (YC ’27) and Hassaan Qadir (YC ’25) posed questions to Olmert and al-Qudwa. They began by asking what Olmert and al-Qudwa consider the beginning of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Olmert cited November 29, 1947—when the UN General Assembly approved the partition of Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state. Al-Qudwa listed 3 dates: November 29, 1947, the Israeli military’s occupation of territory assigned to the Arabs in 1948, and the Six Day War in 1967.
The moderators continued by asking about America’s role in the conflict. Olmert mentioned that past United States presidents have largely supported a two-state solution. Al-Qudwa claimed that the U.S. cannot be an honest mediator, as the U.S. is more supportive of Israel. Al-Qudwa still believes that the U.S. is needed to solve the conflict.
In the past two weeks, President Donald Trump’s administration secured a formal end to the war in the Gaza strip, although experts question its long-term stability. The first phase of the negotiated twenty-point plan also helped in the freeing of 20 living hostages, and roughly half of the bodies of dead hostages held by Hamas, all of whom were taken in October 2023. According to the Health Ministry in Gaza, the Israeli government’s military offensive has left 67,000 Palestinians dead, a third of whom are under the age of 18.
On the topic of the war in Gaza, Olmert emphasized that the Israelis must not allow themselves to be consumed by rage after Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks. He expressed his view that both Hamas and the current Israeli government don’t want to make peace. According to Olmert, the Palestinian Authority is a strong basis for the government of a future state of Palestine in a two-state solution.
When sharing his thoughts on the Gaza war, al-Qudwa also highlighted the need to overcome the desire for revenge. Al-Qudwa considers the recent peace plan brokered by the Trump administration as reason for hope. He emphasized the importance of no foreigners governing the Palestinian territory, and the necessity of an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
When asked about his confidence in a lasting peace, al-Qudwa said that a new Israeli government is needed for peace to prevail. “Netanyahu was not good news for the Israelis,” he said. He believes that a sovereign Palestine can exist without a Palestinian army.
The Yale Political Union, which was founded in 1934, is the oldest and largest collegiate debate organization in the United States.