For an Israeli politician, Gershon Baskin has an unusual resume.
In the 1960s, he was protesting America’s war in Vietnam, not fighting against invading Arab armies. He grew up on Long Island marching for civil rights, not wandering the alleyways of Jerusalem’s Old City.
And that was all before his bar mitzvah.

Baskin says both his social conscience and his Zionism come from his Zionist youth movement, Young Judaea.

Tal is one of three Anglos running for seats on the party’s Knesset candidates list. The other two are Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information founder Dr. Gershon Baskin and Arava Power Company founder Yosef Abramowitz.

Not coincidentally, all three are alumni of the Young Judaea youth movement and credit it with turning them into people who go out and make change.

Gershon Baskin

We are on this planet to make it a better place. We are trustees, not the owners. We are part of a region – a neighborhood which requires cooperation across borders for the benefit of all. We have to take responsibility so that everyone who lives here has the best opportunities to achieve a good and decent life for themselves and their families. We must address the inequalities and injustices in our society with sincere solidarity and we must fight for real social justice.

The Future of Jerusalem 2000 Member of Prime Minister Barak’s expert team on Jerusalem working on preparing the Israeli positions regarding Jerusalem in the permanent status negotiations with the Palestinians. Security and Strategic Affairs 2005 The Leaders Project – Under the auspices of Secretary of Defense William Cohen The Politics of Water Resources 2005- present [...]

2005 – present • Founding Member of the Steering Committee of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace NGO Forum, a network of more than 100 Israeli and Palestinian peace and dialogue NGO’s. 2005 – present • Member of the Executive Committee of ALLMEP – the Alliance for Middle East Peace, a coalition of some 30 peace and dialogue [...]

1993 Ph.D. International Affairs, Greenwich University Dissertation: Sovereignty and Territory in the Future of Jerusalem (Ph.D. Mentors and academic supervisors: Prof. Alan Dowty, Notre Dame University and Prof. Edy Kaufman, University of Maryland and Hebrew University) 1991 M.A. International Affairs, Greenwich University (under the academic supervision of Prof. Alan Dowty, Notre Dame University) Dissertation: The [...]

1988 – Present Israeli CEO and founder of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI). IPCRI is a joint Israeli-Palestinian public policy research think-tank working on issues in conflict between the sides. IPCRI proposes policy options to decision makers regarding the issues in the peace process. Dr. Baskin was the founder of IPCRI and [...]