The Turkish decision to normalize relations and return the Turkish ambassador to Israel should be welcomed, but bilateral relations should not be expected to return to the honeymoon of the 1990s.
It was always Turkey that determined the degree of closeness between the two countries.
On the other hand, Israel has shown a consistent willingness for good relations due to being a regional power.
It is one of the three largest countries in the region, sits in a strategic place as a bridge between Asia and Europe, its army is the largest in the NATO alliance, excluding the United States, and is equipped with the best American weapons.
Its economy is among the 20 largest in the world, and it has an impressive industrial capacity.
Turkey competed for preeminence in the Muslim world, and Jerusalem wanted good relations with it in order to dim the religious dimension in the conflict with the Arab world.
State President Yitzhak Herzog and Turkish President Erdogan at the Presidential Palace in Ankara (archive), photo: Reuters
The timing of the return of the ambassadors is due to the economic and political problems in Turkey.
The Turkish decision to warm relations with Israel fell due to growing economic difficulties and political isolation in the region.
The monetary policy of the Turkish leader Erdogan, together with the tourism crisis following the corona epidemic, led the Turkish economy to a crisis.
Ankara saw a gas pipeline from Israel and the transport of gas to Europe through the existing Turkish pipelines as a source of great profit and also to establish Turkey's position as an energy bridge to Europe.
Reconciliation with Israel and the recognition of the Abrahamic Accords also made it possible to send smiles to the rich Gulf countries and receive financial aid from them.
The timing of the return of the ambassadors is due to economic and political problems in Turkey.
The Turkish decision to warm relations fell due to growing economic difficulties and political isolation
The new attitude towards Israel removes a point of tension with the US, which supports Israel and the Abraham Accords. Furthermore, the Biden administration is more critical of Turkey than its predecessor, and Israel, which is seen as having influence in Washington, may soften some of the criticism.
Improving relations with Israel is also an attempt to weaken the cooperation between Israel, Greece and Cyprus.
The two Greek-speaking countries are great rivals of Turkey, which is seen in their eyes as an aggressive and dangerous country.
Erdogan's Turkey is challenging the border established between it and Greece at the end of World War I, and there are ongoing security tensions in the area of the Ionian Islands adjacent to the Turkish coast.
Turkey even occupied the northern part of Cyprus and has controlled it since 1974. Egypt, which is traditionally a regional rival of Turkey, also joined the new deployment in the region.
Turkey feels threatened by this arrangement and is trying to dissolve the glue of the partnership.
It is worth noting that even when there was a deterioration in relations between Ankara and Jerusalem, bilateral relations in the economic field flourished and Erdogan did not try to prevent this.
Furthermore, since the civil war and the instability in Iraq, Turkey has used the port of Haifa and the passage to Jordan to export its goods to the Arab world.
Herzog and Erdogan pass in front of the Order of Honor, photo: Haim Tzach/Leam
Despite the economic interrelationships and the change of tone in Ankara, we must remember: as long as Islamist President Erdogan is in power, Turkey will continue to show hostility towards the Jewish state, and its unreserved support for Hamas will continue.
Likewise, it will be difficult for Israel to accept the ambitions of Islamist Turkey, which has Ottoman impulses in the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
The author is Professor Ephraim Inbar, President of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (
JISS
)
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