In 2011, when the Papers were published, the negotiations were in a deadlock after the refusal in September 2010 of the Benjamin Netanyahu government to extend the freeze of settlements building over ten months.
Ziyad Clot, as of 2011 the only identified source, felt frustrated about the fact that the great majority of the Palestinian people, the refugees, being one of the "remaining issues" in the "peace process", were not properly represented.
[4] The documents were obtained by Al Jazeera and shared in advance of publication with The Guardian in an effort to ensure the wider availability of their content.
The NSU was the PLO's main technical and legal advice organ in the peace negotiations, set up in 1999 and headed by Saeb Erekat.
He accused Al Jazeera journalist Clayton Swisher, who delivered the disclosure of the Palestine Papers, of being a CIA agent and of working for the NSU.
[11] In his book The Palestine Papers: The End of the Road?, Swisher confirmed account, as he wrote, "In the fall of 2010, I traveled the world meeting with US, Israeli, and Palestinian Authority officials who had no idea that I held in my possession the secret records of their negotiations".
[12] A complaint filed with the UK media regulator Ofcom by Erekat and the PLO against Al Jazeera and Clayton Swisher on grounds of unfairness was wholly dismissed in a 19-page ruling released in October 2011.
[13][14] In a 14 May 2011 op-ed article in the Guardian, Ziyad Clot, a French lawyer of Palestinian descent and a former adviser for the NSU involved in 2008 Annapolis negotiations exposed himself as one of the sources of the leaks.
In the Guardian article, he also stated: "In full conscience, and acting independently, I later agreed to share some information with al-Jazeera specifically with regard to the fate of Palestinian refugee rights in the 2008 talks.
They also include other documents, such as memos, emails, letters, strategy papers, a matrix of positions[16] and even maps of possible land swaps[17] and presentation slides.
[21] According to the documents, in a meeting with Livni in Jerusalem, Qurei proposed that Israel annex all settlements along the border except for the large cities and towns of Giv'at Ze'ev, Ma'ale Adumim, Ariel, and Efrat.
During the final meeting, Mahmoud Abbas was prepared by the Negotiation Support Unit (NSU) to clarify many questions regarding Ehud Olmert's peace plan in which Abbas was quoted as asking questions such as "How do you see it addressing our interests, especially as Ariel, Maale Adumim, Givat Zeev, Har Homa and Efrat clearly prejudice contiguity, water aquifers, and the viability of Palestine?"
A day after this meeting, Olmert resigned and Tzipi Livni stepped in as Acting Prime Minister, with Benjamin Netanyahu being elected shortly afterward.
[27] According to one of the documents, the Palestinian Authority was prepared to concede most Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem, as well as the Armenian Quarter, with the exception of Har Homa.
The Temple Mount would be temporarily administrated by a joint body consisting of the Palestinian Authority, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States until a permanent solution was reached.
[28] The minutes of the trilateral meeting on 26 August 2008 reveal that Israel not only demands a "demilitarized" Palestinian state, but also wants to keep control over borders, Jordan Valley and airspace, after withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the West Bank, for reasons of security.
The idea is to withdraw, but to keep a presence, not close to the situation today, on the EWS, on passages ..."[29] Yankie Galenty, a media adviser for Ehud Olmert, affirmed the complete authenticity of the documents in an interview.
"[30] Other officials in the Israeli government asked for a limited right of return numbering between five and ten thousand, out of a total of five million refugees, who would be carefully picked by Israel and allowed to stay under "humanitarian conditions".
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice proposed settling Palestinians refugees in Argentina and Chile as an alternative to letting them return to former homes in Israel and the occupied territories during a meeting.
"[40] Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that "even the most left-wing government of Olmert and Livni did not manage to reach a peace agreement, despite the many concessions."