A rare interview with Fadwa Barghouti, whose imprisoned husband represents the best hope for peace on the Palestinian side – By Jo-Ann Mort, The New Republic (January 26, 2026)

In 1999, I met Marwan Barghouti with a group of 20 American Reform Rabbis in his office in Ramallah. None of us ever heard of him before. He was then Fatah’s 39-year old leader in the West Bank. I was asked by our group leader, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, then the Executive Director of the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA), to act as the interlocutor for our group.

Barghouti warmly welcomed us to his offices. He spoke to us in both Hebrew and English.

I asked him first whether he believed in and supported a 2-state final resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He answered that he did.

“What obstacles, if any, do you see in the way of a diplomatic agreement?” I asked.

“None,” he said, “but the issue of Jerusalem and refugees will be difficult to solve.”

Jo-Ann Mort has written an important piece about Barghouti in The New Republic that I hope will add to the pressure upon the Israeli government to release Barghouti from prison. Jo-Ann rightly notes that Barghouti is a singular figure in Palestinian politics and more popular than any other Palestinian leader who could unify the Palestinians in negotiations with Israel. She interviewed Barghouti’s wife and Ami Ayalon, a former Shin Bet leader (2000–2005), a former admiral of the Israeli Navy, and a former Labor Party politician who advocates for Barghouti’s release from Israel’s prison.

Jo-Ann analyzes here why freeing Marwan Barghouti, may be the key to a “livable and reconcilable” future for both peoples.

I recommend her piece highly and that if you know decision makers in the United States and Israel that you share her article with them.