Al Jazeera’s Teymoor Nabili speaks to Gershon Baskin about his role in the negotiations leading to an Israeli-Hamas prisoner swap agreement that freed Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit.
Gershon Baskin persisted in contacts with Hamas when official envoys failed to secure the release of Gilad Shalit.
Gershon Baskin persisted in contacts with Hamas when official envoys failed.
Perhaps the talks are not direct, but we are negotiating with Hamas. The agreement that will be reached will be exactly what I proposed to Olmert, Barak and Livni 10 days before the war began.
If Olmert doesn’t agree to release 450 terrorists, every Israeli soldier will know that his government will not go the distance to bring him home.
A military attack against Gaza will not achieve the strategic objective of ending the attacks from there against Israel. Only an agreed on cease-fire with Hamas will stop the Qassams.
Gershon Baskin, who helped negotiate the deal of the release of Israeli soldier Gildad Shalit in exchange for the release of 1,027 Palestinians, thinks that will help encourage democratic trends in Palestinian areas.