this episode originally held on Thursday, September 5, 2024
Gershon Baskinan Israeli hostage negotiator, knows what it takes to cut a deal with Hamas. He began contact with a senior Hamas official, Ghazi Hamid, in 2006. and the relationship laid the groundwork for the deal that freed Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011.
“I was completely focused on freeing Gilad Shalit,” Baskin recounts Michael Saffy. “That was my mission. That was my job. And I would talk to the devil if that was what it took to bring Gilad Shalit home alive. So I didn’t stop to consider their political positions or their manifesto and their desire to kill everyone, including me.
After the deal, Baskin stayed in touch with Hamid, hoping the relationship would eventually help bring about peace. “I knew from the beginning that if we were going to succeed, it would be based on the personal relationships we develop. So over the years I made sure we talked, we talked about family, we talked about dreams and hopes, we talked about our childhood.”
After the October 7 attacks, Hamid was interviewed on Lebanese television. He said: “We have to teach Israel a lesson and we will do it again and again.”
“It was pretty devastating,” says Baskin. “At that point I wrote him a letter saying I never wanted to speak to him again.
“But a month later, a good Palestinian friend of mine said, ‘You know, Gershon, you made a mistake because maybe your contact with Ghazi Hamid could save lives.’ And I wrote him again and said, ‘Gazi, if the conversation with you can save lives, I’m ready to renew our relationship.” Three weeks later he contacted me and we’ve been in touch ever since.”
