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Israel and the Palestinians ·

Annapolis conference and the Olmert–Abbas talks

An international conference that launched permanent-status negotiations; the Joint Understanding was a commitment to negotiate, not an agreement on substance, and the talks ended without an agreement.

In 30 seconds

In November 2007 Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas pledged at Annapolis to negotiate continuously and to seek a peace treaty by the end of 2008. In September 2008 Olmert showed Abbas a proposal and a map. No agreement was reached, and the two sides disagree about why.

Where it stands today

The talks ended without an agreement: the end-of-2008 target was not met12. The proposals raised in them bind neither side.

In one sentence

To reach a permanent agreement between Israel and the Palestinians by the end of 2008.

The challenge

From June 2007 the Palestinians were split: Hamas controlled the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority the West Bank. The Roadmap had not been implemented.

Forty-nine states and international organisations came to the conference, among them the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, although his country has no relations with Israel. Hamas and Iran did not take part, and Hamas officials called the meeting useless1.

The road there

  1. At the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, President George W. Bush reads out the Joint Understanding of Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas1.
  2. The date set for the negotiations' steering committee to begin work1.
  3. Olmert presents his proposal and map to Abbas2.

The people

What was discussed

  • The Joint Understanding: continuous bilateral negotiations aimed at completing a peace treaty by the end of 2008, meetings of the two leaders every two weeks, and implementation of the Roadmap under US monitoring1.
  • The negotiating teams were led by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala)1.
  • Olmert's proposal, according to JTA: an Israeli withdrawal from about 93.7% of the West Bank, with the Palestinians compensated by Israeli land equal to about 5.8% of the West Bank2.
  • Also in the proposal: a corridor linking the West Bank to the Gaza Strip, withdrawal from the Arab neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem, and placing the Old City under international administration2.

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The geography

100%
Schematic map of Israel and its neighbours with line typesWest BankGaza StripJerusalemTel AvivGazaRamallahAmmanRafahNaharayim / Baqura

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Layers · Legend
  • International boundary agreed in a peace treaty
  • Treaty line with Jordan, “without prejudice to the status” of the territory beyond it
  • 1949 armistice line (“Green Line”) — not an agreed final border
  • “Blue Line” — UN line of withdrawal (2000), not a border
  • Ceasefire / disengagement line with Syria (1974)
  • Other international boundary
  • West Bank and Gaza Strip: permanent status not agreed
  • Golan Heights: held by Israel since 1967; annexation not recognised by the UN
  • UN area of separation (UNDOF)

Classification follows the original research as of 7 Oct 2026. This schematic map is not a legal boundary map or a live update.

  • International boundary agreed in a peace treaty
  • Treaty line with Jordan, “without prejudice to the status” of the territory beyond it
  • 1949 armistice line (“Green Line”) — not an agreed final border
  • “Blue Line” — UN line of withdrawal (2000), not a border
  • Ceasefire / disengagement line with Syria (1974)
  • Other international boundary
  • West Bank and Gaza Strip: permanent status not agreed
  • Golan Heights: held by Israel since 1967; annexation not recognised by the UN
  • UN area of separation (UNDOF)

Schematic map. Lines are approximate and are not a legal determination. Data: Natural Earth (public domain), 1:10m scale; line classification and place names by this site. Lines as of October 2026. Peace map

The hard decisions

  • Already at Annapolis the sides remained divided over settlements, refugees and Jerusalem; the Palestinians wanted substantive discussion of the core issues, while the Israeli leadership preferred general wording in order to protect its coalition1.
  • The negotiations stalled under the shadow of investigations into Olmert2; the Gaza war of December 2008 and an Israeli election followed3.

Where accounts differ

According to Ehud Olmert
He presented Abbas with a far-reaching proposal and a map, and Abbas never replied3.
According to Mahmoud Abbas (in a 2015 interview)
Olmert showed him a map but did not give it to him, and he could not sign something he had not received; the arrangement offered for refugees was also insufficient in his view. By his account, a few more months of talks could have settled the remaining disputes2.

What was carried out

  • Direct negotiations took place, and Abbas later described them as the most serious since the Oslo Accords2.

What was not

  • No agreement was signed, and the Roadmap was not implemented2.

What remains open

  • Olmert's map was not handed to the Palestinian side, and there is no agreed text of the proposal2.
  • Olmert returned to these ideas in 2024, in a joint proposal with Nasser al-Kidwa; see the Olmert–al-Kidwa proposal.

Sources

  1. Research Congressional Research Service · 7 December 2007
    Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process: The Annapolis Conference (RS22768)
  2. Press Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) · 19 November 2015
    Abbas on Olmert's 2008 peace offer (report by Julie Wiener)
  3. Press The New York Review of Books · 15 August 2013
    What Future for Israel? not opened from the build environment

Further reading