End of Year, beginning of new year – Gershon Baskin

An end of year, the beginning of a new year here is a thought for Israelis and Palestinians: Ever since Yasser Arafat declared the Independence of the State of Palestine in November 1988, I have been an advocate for all 193 Member States of the United Nations to recognize the State of Palestine.

Today there are more than 150 member states which do. There are also 165 Member states that recognize Israel. They all need to recognize both states. I never believed that recognizing the State of Palestine would end the occupation, but nonetheless I thought it was the right thing to do.

As we end 2024 and begin 2025, I want to appeal to all of us, Israelis and Palestinians, to understand that we really only need one state to recognize the State of Palestine and that is Israel. When that happens we will all be on the road to recovery. In order for that to actually happen, Palestinians need to recognize the right of the Jewish people to live on this land with the same right of self determination that the Palestinian people have. This is hard for both sides to swallow, but it is the refined essence of ensuring that the Gaza war will be the last Israeli Palestinian war. This is what we need to work on in 2025.

Categories: Insights

Gershon Baskin

Gershon Baskin is one of the most recognizable names in the Middle East Peace process. He is a political and social entrepreneur who has dedicated his life to peace between Israel and its neighbors. His dedication to creating a culture of peace and environmental awareness, coupled with his impeccable integrity, has earned him the trust of the leaders of all sides of the century old conflict. Few people have such far-reaching and positive impacts on promoting peace, security, prosperity and bi-national relationships. Gershon is an advisor to Israeli, Palestinian and International Prime Ministers on the Middle East Peace Process and the founder and director of IPCRI, the Israeli-Palestinian Public Policy Institute. He was the initiator and negotiator of the secret back channel between Israel and Hamas for the release of 1,027 prisoners – mainly Palestinians and Arab-Israelis of which 280 were sentenced to life in prison, including Yahya Sinwar, the current Palestinian leader of the Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The prisoners were imprisoned for planning and perpetrating various attacks against Jewish targets that resulted in the killing of 569 Israelis in exchange for one Israeli soldier, Gilad Schalit. Gershon is actively involved in research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, environmental security, political strategy, peace education, economics, culture and in the development of affordable solar projects with the goal of providing clean electricity for 50 million people by 2020. He is a founding member of Kol Ezraheiha-Kol Muwanteneiha (All of the Citizens) political party in Israel. He is now directing The Holy Land Bond and is the Middle East Director for ICO – International Communities Organization - a UK based NGO working in conflict zones with failed peace processes.