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Mahmoud Abbas has promised that the disarmament will happen only after the elections. If Israel insists on disarmament prior to elections, the balance and merging of interests will be derailed and chances are that a new round of violence will open.

Gershon Baskin hopes that one day, the Israeli-Arab conflict will end. The struggle to reach that end will heighten and deepen the feeling of alienation between the two Jewish peoples of this state. We will then have to confront how we live together in peace and mutual respect.

The best immediate solution is construction of a rail link of about 1.5 kilometers between Erez (at the northern border of the Gaza Strip with Israel) and Zikim, which links Gaza to the Israeli rail system.

Gershon Baskin recommends that President Mahmoud Abbas should immediately move his main seat of government to Gaza and that the minister of interior, in charge of the security forces, should also spend most of his time in Gaza.

I don`t pity them, and I don`t identify with them. I did not send them to Gaza

Gershon Baskin shares his insights on how in the real cold analysis of how decisions are made in this part of the world, Israel included; the language of force, pain and suffering is what motivates difficult decision.

A plan for Palestinian elections must be included and should be held shortly after Israeli withdrawal from Gaza is completed. People like Mohammad Dahlan and many others can compete in those elections for the public’s support, but he, nor anyone else should be imposed on the Palestinian people by outside meddlers.