This is the time for Israel to act resolutely to maximize the window of opportunity created. • Activating Turkey as an intermediary between Israel and Hamas is possible and could lead to a change of direction.
Hadar Goldin, Oron Shaul, Abra Mengistu and Hisham a-Sayed
Photo:
AFP, Reuters
Day Hoftm of the pair is a luxury attainment, but is not complete because as the saying Every winner of "supposing-Aschc, Iroslim, Tsch right-handed. Tdbk linguistic Lhci, supposing-not Azcrci, supposing-not Aalh At-Iroslim, upon chief Smhti" ( Psalms Celez, e-f).
This, in order to illustrate that joy is not complete without the Temple.
And yesterday (Wednesday), the joy of the 73rd Independence Day of the State of Israel was not without the return of the Israeli prisoners.
"And there is hope in thy latter end, saith the LORD, that the children of Israel shall come again to their border," Jeremiah wrote.
It is undisputed that one of the main reasons for Israel's difficulties in bringing home navigator Ron Arad, who was captured by Amal on October 16, 1986, is the continuation of the affair for 35 years.
The same difficult problem applies, of course, to the absence of Sultan Yaakov, Sergeant Zvika Feldman and Sergeant Yehuda Katz, who have been missing since June 11, 1982. On April 4, 2019, their friend Sergeant Zechariah Baumel was buried in the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery. And it is clear that the State of Israel is openly - and especially covertly - working hard to bring them home.
At the same time, since July 2014, a renewed Israeli POW mission against Hamas has begun.
During Operation Eitan, Lieutenant Hadar Goldin and Sgt. Oron Shaul were captured by the terrorist organization. Until April 2015, two more Israeli citizens were captured by Hamas, Abrah Mengistu and Hisham a-Sayed. Duchin said, "I already have everything. I have nothing to add to it," but a critical issue that needs to be addressed is the way in. What is the right way to create a breakthrough in indirect contacts with Hamas so that the task of returning those four does not become particularly difficult? Sultan Yaakov and Ron Arad?
In October 2011, the Egyptian and German mediators led to the closure of the Shalit deal, in which 1,027 security prisoners and detainees were released in exchange for abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, five years and five months after he was captured by Hamas. If we return to the current situation, it seems that in three months' time, seven years will have been completed in which Lieutenant Goldin and Sgt. Shaul are not at home.
in the state of Israel.
It is clear that the Egyptians really, really want to help - but in fact they are not succeeding.
It is very possible that regional processes that have taken place in both Egypt and Hamas over the decade since the Shalit deal have led to them not having significant leverages on the terrorist organization as intermediaries.
On the other hand, the Middle East country that has the option of exerting the most effective pressure on Hamas is Turkey.
Senior members of the terrorist organization live in Istanbul, Turkey invests a lot of money in the Gaza Strip - including in the field of health during the Corona period, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has a good relationship with the head of the Politburo, Ismail Haniyeh.
Beyond that, unlike Egypt, in its attempts to end its isolation in the eastern Mediterranean, Turkey is interested in normalizing relations with Israel and is even willing to replace ambassadors between the countries, as first reported in "Israel Today".
Alongside this, there have been processes and events related to Turkey that illustrate that Erdogan and his people have no problem mobilizing their forces for the realization of Ankara’s interests.
One example of this was when they ordered channels affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Sharq, Watan and Makamlin, to stop visiting Egypt - as part of their desire to normalize relations with Cairo.
Moreover, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani spoke by telephone yesterday with his counterpart Erdogan.
He argued that "opening the gates of the region to Israel is a dangerous step to oppose and confront," and the Turkish president's response was to change the issue for two main reasons: 1. He is interested in normalizing relations with Israel.
2. He, himself, sees Iran with offensive nuclear capabilities as a threat to Turkey.
On the contrary, a Turkish soldier was killed last night in a rocket attack carried out by a pro-Iranian militia against a Turkish military base in northern Iraq.
Meanwhile, on the Palestinian side, the elections to the Legislative Council are expected to take place on May 22 - unless Israel or Abu Mazen lead to their abolition.
Hamas needs a significant achievement that will lead to an increase in their popularity in the moment of truth.
The issue of Palestinian prisoners is sensitive in the streets of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, similar to the sensitivity of prisoners and missing persons in the streets of Israel.
Therefore, it is time for Israel to act quickly and decisively to maximize the creative window of opportunity.
To use Turkey as a mediator with Hamas and demand that it use pressure levers against senior members of the organization who are in Istanbul, in exchange for a change of ambassadors.
A link between such an operation and Hamas' need for a significant, electoral benefit step ahead of them in the run-up to the election could lead to a breakthrough that would bring the prisoners home.
