Gershon Baskin
‎ ‎

‎‎Gershon Baskin is Middle East Director of ICO - International Communities Organization, an NGO operating in conflict areas. Baskin is the director of the Holy Land Bond, an impact investment fund for building reconciliation in Israel and Palestine. He was responsible for a secret Israel-Hamas channel for about 18 years. This channel negotiated the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

From 2012-2020, he was responsible for the development of solar energy projects for the Palestinian Authority and Egypt at Gigawatt Global.

Between 1988-2011, following 10 years as founding CEO of the Institute for Education for Jewish-Arab Coexistence, Baskin became founder and codirector of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI). During Yitzhak Rabin's tenure, he served as special advisor to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process for a secret team of intelligence officers.

From 2005-2023, he had a weekly column in the Jerusalem Post and now has one in the Times of Israel which also appears in Al-Quds and on D'Yoma.com.

Baskin holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Greenwich. Parts of his thesis were published as a book Jerusalem of Peace. His book In Pursuit of Peace in Israel and Palestine was published in 2019. He has received several international peace awards.