Published: 16 October 2017
Last updated: 4 March 2024
I HAVE BEEN IN regular contact with senior Hamas officials since early 2005. During the early years my talks with them involved reaching cease-fire agreements and of course the release of Gilad Schalit. In recent years I have tried very hard to secure the release of the bodies of IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul and to return Israeli civilians Abera Mengisto and Hisham Al-Sayed.
I have met senior Hamas officials in the West Bank, in Gaza, and I have met face-to-face with some Hamas officials abroad in Cairo and other locations.
I believe that I have spent more time in direct talks with Hamas officials than any other Israeli – except for Israeli prison guards and Israeli Security Agency agents; they have spent more time, but that was in interrogations and not in free and open dialogue. I believe that I have a pretty good idea of who they are and what motivates them.
The mistrust of Hamas officials toward Israel and Israeli leaders is the most extreme that I have ever encountered in the 40 years that I have been speaking to Arabs. No one that I have ever met from Hamas believes that Israelis and their leaders are interested in peace.
The author is founder and co-chairman of Israel Palestine Creative Regional Initiatives
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