Did gershon baskin meet ever with marwan albargouthy and also did he speak to steve witkof about him?
Executive summary
Available reporting and writings show Gershon Baskin has had long-standing personal and professional contact with Marwan Barghouti since the 1990s and has corresponded with him during his imprisonment [1] [2]. Multiple accounts also say Baskin communicated with U.S. real-estate executive and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff as part of back-channel efforts around Gaza ceasefire/prisoner-exchange talks [3] [4]. Sources do not claim a single public, recent face-to-face meeting among all three men together; instead they document Baskin–Barghouti meetings and correspondence and Baskin’s contacts with Witkoff [1] [2] [3].
1. Gershon Baskin’s history of meetings with Marwan Barghouti — a long record
Gershon Baskin writes that he has known Marwan Barghouti since 1996 and organized and ran numerous closed-door roundtable meetings between Palestinian figures (including Barghouti) and Israeli politicians and security personnel before the second intifada, describing that direct meeting activity in the late 1990s [1] [5]. Baskin’s public pieces and interviews repeatedly state he met and corresponded with Barghouti over decades, including sustained contact “from 1996 until the end of 2000” and ongoing correspondence during Barghouti’s incarceration [5] [2].
2. Face-to-face versus correspondence — what the sources specify
Baskin’s own accounts emphasize both in-person meetings he organized in the 1990s and later correspondence while Barghouti has been imprisoned; a 2000s-era letter and later public writings confirm he wished to see Barghouti “face-to-face” and that he carried out written correspondence more recently [6] [2]. The sources make a clear distinction: Baskin organized in-person meetings involving Barghouti before Barghouti’s long-term imprisonment and has since maintained written correspondence and exchanges of information [1] [2].
3. Did Baskin “meet ever” with Barghouthi — the bottom line from documents
Yes: Baskin explicitly states he organized and ran many meetings in which Marwan Barghouti participated in the late 1990s, and he reports regular contact through the end of 2000 [1] [5]. These statements come from Baskin’s own published blogs and interviews; reporting cites his longtime personal involvement with Barghouti dating back to the pre-2000 period [1] [5].
4. Baskin’s contact with Steve Witkoff — back channels and deal-making
Contemporary reportage and Baskin’s own notes assert he actively communicated with Steve Witkoff as part of efforts to create back channels between U.S. interlocutors and Hamas and to advance prisoner-exchange and ceasefire frameworks; Baskin describes speaking with Witkoff in late 2024/2025 and crediting Witkoff with pivotal contact and deal-making [3] [4]. Multiple outlets quote Baskin saying he “communicated with Steve Witkoff and found a way to create a back channel” [3].
5. Did Baskin speak to Witkoff “about him” (Barghouti)? — what sources say
Baskin states he “put in a great deal of time and effort providing the Americans with information about Marwan Barghouthi” during negotiations and that he advocated for Barghouti’s release with American counterparts involved in prisoner discussions — and contemporaneous accounts link that activity to his communications with U.S. envoys, including Witkoff [7] [3] [4]. Reporting therefore supports that Baskin’s discussions with Witkoff involved Barghouti as an object of advocacy and information-sharing [3] [7].
6. Where sources disagree or leave gaps — no single-source proof of a three-way meeting
Although sources consistently document Baskin–Barghouti meetings historically and Baskin–Witkoff communications for recent negotiations, available reporting does not show a contemporaneous, face-to-face meeting of Gershon Baskin, Marwan Barghouti and Steve Witkoff together in one room; sources instead describe separate roles and channels (Baskin’s past meetings with Barghouti, his recent talks with Witkoff) [1] [3]. If you are asking whether all three physically met at once, available sources do not mention such a meeting.
7. Motives, perspectives and potential agendas in the accounts
Baskin is a long-time Israeli peace activist and back-channel mediator who has publicly advocated for Barghouti’s potential role in future Palestinian leadership and has an interest in freeing or engaging Barghouti as part of negotiated outcomes — an advocacy position he openly states [1] [8]. Steve Witkoff is presented in news accounts as a U.S. presidential envoy and deal facilitator; reporting credits him with late-stage leverage while also highlighting political stakes for U.S. and Israeli actors [4] [3]. Recognize that Baskin’s descriptions serve his policy advocacy aim and that media summaries frame Witkoff’s role within political objectives of the U.S. administration [1] [4].
8. What reporters and analysts highlight next — implications and unanswered questions
Journalists have focused on Barghouti’s potential as a unifying Palestinian figure and on whether mediators (including Witkoff) pushed for his inclusion in prisoner lists — some reports say mediators approved his inclusion before Israeli authorities removed him [9] [10]. However, concrete documentary proof of a formal tripartite meeting among Baskin, Barghouti, and Witkoff is not present in the supplied sources; that remains an open question in current reporting [9] [3].