On the way to making history: Herzog's visit to Turkey is an opportunity to be seized Israel today

President Yitzhak Herzog's view is that life can be seen as stuck in a static place with no entrance, and there is nothing to talk about and no one to talk to.

And one can also see life changing.

And this is what Israel sees in the current Turkey, even though President Erdogan is still the ruler, who some call a dictator.

The example given by a source in the President's entourage is the intelligence errors on the eve of Sadat's visit in November 1977. The pessimists in the army were almost alarmed by Sadat's initiative.

Pessimists today say that President Herzog does not understand what a deep swamp Turkey is.

So in the world according to Herzog, despite the Islamist background of Turkey and its leader Erdogan, there is an opportunity here and it should be seized.

Within the system in Israel, there were and are questions about how to respond to the opportunity that arose - at Erdogan's initiative.

In all areas Erdogan flashes warning lights.

The only positive flicker is from Israel - rising trade, which is expected to reach $ 10 billion this year.

This is an opportunity that appeared even before Yitzhak Herzog was elected president, and also before the formation of the current government.

But in fact the leaders of the "opportunity" were Erdogan and his close adviser, a jealous Islamist named Ibrahim Klil.

The previous clashes between Erdogan and former Prime Minister Netanyahu led to a situation in which immediately on the day Herzog was elected, telephone conversations with Erdogan began.

In fact, Netanyahu said back in 2016 that Israel and Turkey are the two regional powers, and that they should have good relations.

Those close to the Israeli side for the historic visit explicitly say that the Abrahamic and Allied agreements with Greece and Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean have opened up extraordinary opportunities for Israel.

An exciting tribute to Erdogan

At the funeral of the president's mother, Ora nee Ambash, he mentioned the Turkish consul in Ismailia who did well with her family, Ambash, who was one of the Jews deported from Israel who came down from Egypt in World War I. On the one hand, fear of the Ottomans and deportation of Jews. It touched Erdogan's heart and opened a symbolic national historical discourse between the two.

It's on the emotional-intellectual side.

But in the strategic dimension, the United States is evacuating the Middle East. This has created a historic turning point, expressed by the Avraham agreements led by Netanyahu; Herzog is very aware of Netanyahu's contribution on these issues. A regional coalition has been formed, He has a telephone conversation with Biden. Today he meets Lavrov and the Ukrainian Foreign Minister. He opens a dialogue with Armenia (!) And with Egypt.

Already on the day he was elected president, Erdogan told Herzog on the phone "get on a plane and visit me," but it was made clear to him that it does not work that way in Israel.

The problem seems to be in the "crisis management" mechanism, which will be set up and led by Foreign Ministry Director General Alon Ushpiz on the part of Israel and Ibrahim Klil on the part of Turkey. The Islamist, and certainly the IDF's action, could throw Erdogan out of traffic.

The Palm Festival

Herzog treats gas resources as a treasure that needs to be known how to manage it.

But it is clear that this has given Israel a particularly strong status in the Mediterranean, and this is forcing Erdogan to change.

However, two important issues that did not come up in the talks are the "East-Med" pipeline and its acquisition of the F-35 by Turkey.

Herzog went into great detail with Erdogan, and even presented to him the complaint of the date growers in the country about the high customs duty that Turkey imposes on the import of dates from Israel.

Perhaps a plant in Ankara Yakir Association of Palm Towers in the Holy Land.

Herzog's visit to Istanbul yesterday was devoted to a meeting with the local Jewish community at the Neve Shalom Synagogue.

The synagogue is located on a narrow and secure street.

Those who do not know, will not notice that the main synagogue of Istanbul sits there.

The president was received there with love and warmth.

Herzog loves such classes in a synagogue.

This is a synagogue to which the names Yosef Karo, Dona Gracia and Shlomo Alkabetz are no strangers.

At the exit, he met the journalists, Rabbi Mandy Hitrik, chairman of the Association of Rabbis in Islamic Lands. Every revelation of peace and closeness warms their hearts.

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