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Opinion | Israel and Turkey: There is no room for euphoria Israel today

2021-11-20T21:15:51.321Z


Since Erdogan came to power in the early 2000s, Israeli-Turkish relations have been in an ongoing crisis and have become hostages to the ups and downs of Israeli-Palestinian relations.


All is well that ends well.

The Oknin couple were released from the Turkish prison and returned home after eight shaky days spent with them and their family members.

Fortunately, the affair ended before the Israeli media managed to turn - in pursuit of ratings - a "storm in a glass of water" into a tsunami that could have left the couple in prison for a long time and possibly even collapse Israeli-Turkish relations.

The Israeli media has now moved from depression to euphoria, replacing the assessments of a deep crisis in Ankara-Jerusalem relations with rosy predictions, also detached from reality, about an expected warming in relations between the two countries.

The simple truth is that these relationships have a glass ceiling that is neither possible nor worth trying to score.

Beneath it is a reasonable and tolerable relationship, even better than the one that Israel has with other countries in the region.

After all, when was the last time Israeli tourists visited en masse in Cairo or Amman?

This relationship needs to be maintained and promoted, but we should not expect to achieve much beyond it.

True, in the 1990s, Israel and Turkey became close allies, and worked closely together, especially in the military and security fields.

At the same time, economic ties between the two flourished, and Turkey even became a favorite destination for Israeli tourists.

But since Erdogan came to power in Ankara in the early 2000s, relations between the two countries have been in a constant crisis, and in fact have become hostages to the ups and downs of Israeli-Palestinian relations. , And even hurt the level of its diplomatic representation in Ankara and Istanbul.

At the same time, Erdogan was careful not to cross the border and avoided harming economic ties between the two countries, and these continued to thrive and flourish.

This is, by the way, a recurring pattern in Erdogan's relations with other countries in the world, especially the countries of Europe and the United States, which he attacks sharply, but at the same time is careful not to damage economic ties with them.

But such a policy also has a price.

The Turkish economy is collapsing, relations with the United States are in an ongoing crisis, and Turkey has been left without friends in the region. Hence Erdogan's attempt to repair the damage. Granted shelter in Turkey.It is also ready to receive with honors the regent of the UAE, although only a year ago he returned his ambassador from Abu Dhabi in protest of the signing of the Abrahamic Accords.

But Erdogan was and remains an unpredictable politician, and it must be assumed that when the next crisis in Israeli-Palestinian relations breaks out, Erdogan will "jump on him again."

This does not mean that Turkey should be given up.

The existence of dialogue, even in matters of regional security, is always preferable to disconnection, and there is much more to be done in promoting economic ties between the two countries.

One only has to be aware of the borders of the sector, and certainly there is no point in giving up in exchange for talks with Ankara on a system of ties and alliances in the fields of economy, energy and security, which Israel has established with Cyprus, Greece and Egypt.

Rather, respect Ankara and join as a desirable partner in all of these.

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2021-11-20

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