Negotiations – Gershon Baskin

The Qataris froze their mediation efforts because they saw that the two sides were not prepared to reach an agreement.

Egypt is continuing to mediate. Now is the time to open a direct secret back channel between Israel and Hamas.

Direct contact can be freer to explore new possibilities, with built in deniability. Each of the sides blamed the other for blocking an agreement. Both sides are responsible.

Hamas wants the war in Gaza to end. Netanyahu does not. Hamas wants to free Palestinian prisoners. Netanyahu does not want to release Palestinian prisoners. Israel wants the hostages home. Hamas is not willing to release any hostages without a guarantee that the war will end and Israel will withdraw from Gaza. Israel does not agree that Hamas will continue to control Gaza after the war. Hamas seems ready not to control Gaza, but in the Hamas-Fatah negotiations, Fatah is not willing not to control Gaza either.

There must be a non-partisan Palestinian civilian government in Gaza which is not Hamas and not Fatah and has control over everything – including the security forces, without that there is no possible agreement in sight.

There is room for negotiations and possibilities for reaching agreements, but the negotiations must be ongoing without stop and they must be conducted as directly as possible. That is my experience in reaching breakthroughs.

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.