Gershon Baskin
Ehud Olmert, Nasser Al-Kidwa, Gershon Baskin and Samer Sinijlawi
Even before the horrors of the war in Gaza, there had been years of impasse between Palestinians and Israelis. Instead of trying to restart negotiations, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu famously kicked this particular can down the road, bolstering Hamas and weakening president Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority in order to “manage” the status quo. The last time a meaningful peace deal was on the table was in 2008, when former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert presented an offer to Abbas, who refused it.
Since 7th October 2023, relations between the two sides in this conflict have reached their nadir. But it is precisely at this time that an initiative to revive Israeli-Palestinian dialogue has been gaining momentum. In July—not long after Prospect hosted a conversation between them—Olmert and Nasser Alkidwa, a former Palestinian foreign minister (who also happens to be Yasser Arafat’s nephew) signed a letter agreeing to work together for peace. They listed joint positions on Gaza’s postwar future and called for land swaps and Palestinian elections. The initiative was the combined effort of Olmert and Alkidwa; Gershon Baskin, a veteran Israeli negotiator who helped secure the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit from Hamas; and Samer Sinijlawi, chair of the Jerusalem Development Fund. Baskin had originally approached Olmert before 7th October. The whole point of the exercise, Baskin told Prospect, “is to build hope”.
At a time when it is needed more than ever, the project has shown that it is possible for Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate in good faith. The group has since taken the initiative global, meeting with senior diplomats and foreign ministers. As Olmert told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria when they first went public, the conflict is at an inflection point: “It’s time to change direction.”
https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/worlds-top-thinker/68677/vote-for-your-2025-top-thinker
