Gershon Baskin shares with Poppy Harlow of CNN why we have to be very careful in negotiating and finalizing and implementing a deal for the Hostages.
HARLOW: More on our breaking news this morning, sources telling CNN a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas could be announced as soon as today.
With us now is Gershon Baskin, the Middle East director of International Communities Organization, of course he was central in the negotiations with Hamas to get an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, released in 2007. Gershon, thank you for joining us.
If you haven’t seen the CNN reporting yet or for viewers just joining us, here are the top lines that our colleagues have gotten. It would be, if it happens, 50 prisoners held by Hamas in exchange for three Palestinian prisoners for every civilian hostage released, so, essentially, three for one. It would also mean a six-hour pause in Israel with those drone flights over Northern Gaza.
And it would be a cessation in fighting for four to five days. What is your takeaway from this? Do you think this one is for real?
GERSHON BASKIN, MIDDLE EAST DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITIES ORG.: Two things to caution us. There’s no deal until there’s a deal. Once there’s a deal it’s brought before the Israeli government to vote on and even then there’s no deal until it’s implemented. There are so many stages along the way where it could go south. We have to be very careful.
The other thing I smile about is that in the first week of the war, I presented to the Israeli side and Hamas a deal to release all the women and children, elderly and sick hostages in exchange for all the women prisoners and all the prisoners in Israel under the age of 18. There are 43 women and 190 prisoners under the age of 18. So, it’s more or less the same deal that was proposed in the first week of the war.
I don’t believe this is the whole deal. It’s very unlikely that Hamas is not also demanding prisoners to be release who had murdered Israelis, who had been serving a long period of time. Everything else makes sense. A ceasefire has to be part of it. HILL: So, you think the more to it could be more in terms of the specifics who Hamas wants released in exchange?
BASKIN: I think so. I would be very surprised, pleasantly surprised, if they’re just demanding the women and the minor prisoners in Israel and not anyone else. The issue with a ceasefire is complex. Israel needs to redeploy its forces and pull back. I don’t believe that drones will stop floating over Gaza Strip. Israel is still collecting intelligence information. And there’s no reason for Israel to believe that Hamas would implement a ceasefire when it does. So, it needs to be on guard and ready for any violation of the ceasefire which could also block the deal as well anywhere down the road.
HARLOW: Gershon, you said something really critical in that a deal needs to be signed off on by the entire Israeli parliament. My question to you is would the farthest —
BASKIN: No, the government.
HARLOW: The government there, sorry. Would the farthest right members, though, agree to a deal where 150 essentially Palestinians are released?
BASKIN: No, they won’t agree to it. But Netanyahu needs a majority of the government. He doesn’t need full consensus. He needs a large majority in order to make it legitimate in the eyes of the public and he will get that. We have to remember that he is very weak now, the weakest he’s ever been, but, nonetheless, I think that he will pull off a majority in the government.
There will be a long debate. It won’t be a half an hour meeting and a vote. It will be a long debate in the government.
HILL: In terms of that debate, one of the things we heard from our Oren Liebermann who spoke with those families after they met with them yesterday was that they were asking very specifically for the hostages to be priority number one. That is not the answer that they got, what they wanted.
Moving forward, based on everything you see, as you noted it’s not a deal until it’s a deal. Yesterday you told us you were hopeful based on what we heard 24 hours ago. Has that level of hope changed at all in this moment?
BASKIN: I wake up every morning trying to be hopeful. I’m also realistic. But the more talk there is about a deal seems that it’s more real, although I have great suspicion about all the talk around the deal, because, usually, what happens in these situations is that people who know don’t talk and people who don’t know are the ones who are talking, and all the talk is not very helpful.
But we’ve gotten deep into this war and Israel is about to launch its major campaign into the southern part of the Gaza Strip, where the hostages are located and the leadership of Hamas is located. And we’re likely to see that kind of step on the part of Israel as being detrimental to other negotiations. HARLOW: Gershon Baskin, thank you so much for joining us with all of your expertise. Come back if you learn more, obviously, on all of this.
And we do want to bring in now the great aunt of three-year-oldAbigail Edan. Liz Hirsh is with us. You probably recognize her because she was on CNN right at this table with us just a couple days ago. Abigail is the youngest known American hostage and there is hope, our reporting is, that she would be among those released today if this deal actually come comes to fruition.
I cannot imagine, Liz, what you’re feeling this morning. What would you like to say.
LIZ HIRSH NAFTALI, GREAT AUNT OF THREE-YEAR-OLD HOSTAGE ABIGAIL EDAN: Well, I’m cautious optimist because we’ve heard this before. And although there’s more excitement and more news pressing right now, we can’t get our hopes up in a way that just believes that it’s going to happen right in the next couple of hours.
But, you know, when I think about that on Friday is Abigail’s 4th birthday and that she should be home with her family and with her sister and brother and she isn’t right now, it’s just — it’s like you get your emotions — you have to keep them in check because, if not, and you think about nine-month-old children, little girls, little boys, mothers, and you just hope that there’s somebody holding these little children.
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And so, when people ask that my — I’m not a politician, I’m not a diplomat. I will believe it when I see them walk out, to be driven out and they are free. Because until then, we just have to keep everything in check because it’s just too much of an emotional roller coaster. And, you know, it’s 45 days. And as you see, I have here this pin, this sticker, which is — these people have been in the dark for 45 days.
Abigail is a beautiful child who wants to run around and play soccer with her older brother and sister and she hasn’t been able to run around in 45 days. I don’t know where she is. We don’t know. We just hope that she’s with Hagar Brodutch, who she was taken out with her three children, and that she’s giving her love, and that on Friday she will be with her family back in Israel without her parents, but with her sister and her brother and her aunts and her uncles and her grandparents.
So, for me, it’s really emotional because I have no idea if this is real, but my heart believes it has to be. I have faith and I just pray that this is going to be the real peace. Again, until we see them come out and until Abigail is in the arms of her family, I just can’t go down to that point where I’m relieved and I believe it’s going to happen fully.
HILL: I think so many people watching can understand that and can understand exactly where you are and where you need to keep yourself in this moment.
You’ve talked about how you felt like you’ve been in the dark. There’s been very little communication. There’s very little that you know. Has anybody reached out to you in the wake of this reporting this morning in terms of — in an official capacity?
NAFTALI: No. And the — what I understand is that if there really is a deal and it does get to that place, that the hostage families, American hostage families will hear from the State Department prior, but that hasn’t happened. Again, this is just more reporting and more, you know — everybody says it’s closer. The president said it’s closer. Everybody says it’s closer. The Qatari people say it’s closer. But, again, I really, truly believe until we see the hostages and these little children and their mothers, whoever is in that first round come out, we can’t put any — we can’t fully embrace that there is this deal.
HILL: Well, we hope that there’s word for you and for so many others soon. Liz Hirsh Naftali, we really appreciate you joining us this morning. We will, of course, continue to check in with you as you hold out hope and wait for that good news.
NAFTALI: Thanks.
