The release of an Israeli couple from arbitrary detention in Turkey should not reassure us.
Turkish hostility is structural.
Gestures will not cancel her out.
Although its hostility is different from that of Nasser's Egypt in the 1950s and 1960s and that of Iran since 1979 - there are diplomatic relations and civilian trade relations have not been particularly affected.
Still, Turkey's basic political trend is leading to a struggle with Israel.
Turkey has replaced its disappointing pursuit of integration into Europe with a kind of imperialist subversion of hegemony in the world around us.
This change puts it in a structural conflict with the people of Israel, because Israel is a regional power (for those who do not notice), which actually limits its power to the Turkish takeover.
The location in the center of the regional cauldron and our being a Jewish state, unusual in a predominantly Muslim area, repeatedly confront us with those who want to gain control of the fertile Crescent lands. Even when Israel in its early decades was a much weaker force, it was considered an obstacle for a leader who aspired to regional hegemony, such as Egyptian President Nasser, or for fascist parties such as the Ba'athist parties in Syria and Iraq. Easy and material today. We are very impressed with the Islamist ideology of Shiite Iran and now of Sunni Turkey, and believe that this is the main reason for their hostility towards Israel. But in both cases Islam is an ideological language for the simple imperialism of Iran and Turkey. And is a suitable language for them, since Islam is a fundamentally domineering political religion, which has been the basis for several empires.
A useful way to understand the nature of the geo-strategic position of the State of Israel is to compare, with all the huge differences of course, Britain's position on European power relations over the centuries: European powers such as Spain, France and finally Germany became Britain's enemies. .
By the same token, formerly weakened enemies, like France, became allies in the face of a new rising force, like Germany.
Israel is not a large island and is not a maritime power.
The characteristics of the force have also changed.
The power that is the result of the information economy, for example, is something that has no precedent in the past.
But there is a structural resemblance: like Britain versus Europe in the past, whoever strives for supremacy in the region, and to the extent that he has the ability to achieve it, is doomed to be our enemy.
The historic wheel turns. Turkey and Iran were more or less covert allies of Israel in its early decades, in the face of pan-Arab striving for regional supremacy. Now the Arab states, including the largest of them, Egypt, have weakened dramatically. Their nation-building processes have completely failed. They crumble and sink, and this is not a slow degeneration, but a rapid and dangerous fall. Iran and Turkey are thus drawn into the chaotic space that has opened up around us in the Arabian Peninsula, the Fertile Crescent and North Africa, to take over. That is why they are our enemies. Not because of radical Islam. The prevailing Islam in Saudi Arabia, with all the recent easing, is more repressive than Shiite Islam in Iran, lighter and more material than the Islam in Turkey. Still, Saudi Arabia is increasingly being pushed to follow the path of the UAE in its alliance with Israel.
All of this should clarify our strategic perspective.
Iran and Turkey are not such outstanding modern countries, especially not as far as their dark political regimes are concerned.
But they are regionally strong against the background of the abysmal weakness of Arab societies, so they are gradually approaching our northern border.
Power is a relative matter, as is well known.
This situation also has advantages for us: a wise and aware Israeli leadership of our relative strength, and not only of our weaknesses, can, for example, use it to secure our vital interests in our relations with the Arab residents of the country.
But as a whole, the empty space that invites hostile forces to our proximity is ominous and requires a realistic foreign policy.
It is not inconceivable that a confrontation similar to the one that has recently taken place with Iran will develop with Turkey, and for similar reasons.
