In another era, just a few months ago, just before October 7, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan still spent much of his time vigorously courting Israel. The motive was transparent: Erdogan believed that Israel held the key to the core, and especially to its pocket, of the United States. The Turkish president did not stop declaring reconciliation, dispatching emissaries and talking about turning over a new leaf. For a brief moment, Erdogan seemed to be putting his Hamas ideology behind and guided by Turkey's interests.
For one brief moment, he was forgotten here, the Turkish president, the flotillas that tried to break the siege on Gaza and the Mavi Marmara affair, his hostile activity on the Temple Mount incited by his people, the Turkish attempts to take over buildings and compounds in the Old City of Jerusalem, and above all – the hostel he provided the rabbi with Hamas murderers over many years, in Istanbul and elsewhere in Turkey from which Hamas directed many attacks in Israel. From which he ran an economic empire and controlled funds that made their way almost unhindered by terrorists and terrorists. Herzog and Netanyahu met with him, and Erdogan was almost rewhitewashed, but then the massacre happened, and Israel went to war, and Erdogan's fanatical ideology triumphed over Turkey's interests.
This week, after insisting that Hamas is not a terrorist organization, after calling Netanyahu the "butcher" and "butcher" of Gaza and even coming out with his own prediction: "The days are approaching when we will defeat Israeli aggression in Gaza," the real Erdogan, the one who has always been here, returned, but this time without masks and filters.
., Photo: EFP
The Turkish president, who sees himself as the successor of Saladin and Suleiman the Magnificent, and who slams the "grandchildren" of these two, naturally steps into the shoes of the patron and protector of the Muslim Brotherhood around the world. Now he's talking about the Ottoman Empire again, and he's once again praising the sister cities it once ruled
The empire: Mecca, Medina, Cairo, Alexandria, Beirut, Damascus, Diyarbakir, Istanbul and Ankara, and in the same breath mentions Gaza, and Jerusalem, and Ramallah, and Rafah, and Nablus. They were all his sisters.
As long as it is only harsh rhetoric and symbols – Erdogan threatens Israel not to hesitate to assassinate senior Hamas figures in his territory, cultivates educational institutions where children shout "Jerusalem is a religion" and "Israel is an enemy" – and reintegrates in his official receptions for foreign leaders vigils dressed as soldiers of the Ottoman Empire rather than the old Republican guard of honor – Israel and the West can live with that.
However, Turkey, whose streets now hang posters with the portrait of a Hamas spokesman, and whose local networks feature the martyrs of Gaza," including Turkish volunteers, is now beginning to translate megalomania and Arduan madness into action, and there are several manifestations of this:
Remember the Mavi Marmara flotilla that embroiled Israel internationally? Now an initiative is being organized in Turkey to gather 1,000 ships from around the world. According to the plan, they will sail towards Gaza in order to break the Israeli "siege" of the Gaza Strip. According to the preliminary plan, the flotilla was supposed to set sail on November 23 (a month ago) and challenge Israel and its navy, but there was a delay.
The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, which monitors this network, reports that these are small ships with 8-6 people on board, and that the objective of the flotilla is to shut down the maritime supply line to Israel for a week or ten days. 4,500 people from 40 countries are expected to participate in the flotilla. Most of the participants are from Russia – 313 ships, and from Spain – 104 ships. Only 12 boat owners from Turkey will take part in the flotilla, but the organization is Turkish.
From the deal of abductees to the Temple Mount
On 22 November, dozens of Palestinian solidarity organizations and civil society institutions from around the world gathered in Istanbul. They announced the launch of the International Campaign to Save Gaza. One of the main bodies that participated in this event was the Freedom Fleet Coalition, which is now working on purchasing several cargo ships to deliver aid to the residents of Gaza. Zaher Birawi, chairman of the campaign's preparatory committee, a Palestinian activist living in Britain affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, estimated (according to the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center) that these ships, including a Norwegian ship, also set sail for Gaza.
Erdogan's return, photo: EFP
Israel is already examining whether it is possible to take legal action against this initiative, and is also examining the boundaries in which the IDF and security forces can act in an attempt to torpedo, or at least harm, the "1,000-ship flotilla." The potential for propaganda damage in the event of an open clash with this flotilla could be enormous, especially at a time when Israel is struggling to maintain the legitimacy of the war against Hamas. In the meantime, several covert operations have already been carried out that have already delayed the departure of the ships to Israel, but Birawi and the organizations have not yet given up.
Another front that Erdogan's Turkey is now trying to reawaken is Jerusalem, centered on the Old City and the Temple Mount. One of the means for this is the restoration to life of the Morabiton and Murabit, who for years agitated the Temple Mount and harassed Jewish visitors there. Two weeks ago, as part of the abductee deals, two Morabit leaders were released from Israeli prisons, and elements in East Jerusalem affiliated with Turkey are already seeking to bring them back into operation.
They are Hanadi Helwani and Khadija Hawis, both teachers at the Islamic school for girls on the Temple Mount, both with rich histories in the Morabit, which Israel has outlawed. Helwani and Hawiss are affiliated with Hamas and the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, which operated the Murabit, and both were the spirit behind countless attempts to sabotage and harm Jewish visits to the Temple Mount.
Halwani, known as "Kesem al-Aqsa," wrote after the massacre that what happened before 7.10 will no longer be and that it is a historic day. "Be part of the victory in your countries and reserve a seat on the victory bus," recommended Halwani, founder of the "Studies for Al-Aqsa Trails" project, which operated with the help of one of the Muslim Brotherhood institutions. Her friend, Hawis, a resident of Az Za'im, has been arrested dozens of times and repeatedly removed from the Temple Mount. Two weeks after the massacre, she was arrested on suspicion of incitement and support for terrorism. Both have initiated visits to the homes of terrorists' mothers in the past. Now they are free again, and elements affiliated with Turkey in East Jerusalem are asking them to relight the Mount.
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The story of the Temple Mount, or in Palestinian parlance Al-Aqsa, is a story that has not been talked about much since the war. Ostensibly, the Mount is quiet, and Israel is acting intelligence and operational so that it will remain so in the future.
What the Israeli public does not know is that a central part of the indoctrination undergone by the Nukhba terrorists, the perpetrators of the massacre in the envelope, dealt with the Al-Aqsa Mosque, its "desecration" by Israel, its "defilement" and the religious obligation to "redeem it from the hands of its infidel Jewish captors." The Palestinians, the Nukhba people, also tell about this in their interrogations, and it turns out that it is not for nothing that Hamas gave its operation the name "Flood of Al-Aqsa."
It turns out, therefore, that the most popular and widespread motive for the attacks over the past 15 years – the false libel "Al-Aqsa is in danger" – has become a central part of the ideological brainwashing Hamas gave its members prior to the massacre.
The expelled Hamasnik professor
Erdogan has also cultivated this libel over the years and helped spread it. At the same time, he donated money to replace the faded old crescent atop the Dome of the Rock with a shiny golden new crescent, sent his religious affairs chairman, Mehmet Gormez, to conduct the Lil al-Qader prayer on the Temple Mount, and incorporated Jerusalem as a stop on the Hajj route – the pilgrimage to Mecca.
Turkish money from the "Our Heritage" association, as well as from the Turkish government organization "Tika", made its way to finance a transportation system for Israeli Arabs to the Temple Mount, and reached Murabitun (the men) and Murabitat (the women). They were the vanguard in the picture of Erdogan's big dream and his partner, Sheikh Raed Salah (head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement); The dream of a global Islamic Caliphate, in which Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa are destined for a central place. Now the Turks, with the help of elements in East Jerusalem, are trying to revive the Murabit's activity on the Mount and the attempts to purchase properties near the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem.
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A third practical aspect, beyond the inciting rhetoric and the public backing Hamas is currently receiving from Erdogan, has to do with Hamas' money routes, of which elements in Turkey have been an inseparable part over the years, with the knowledge of the regime there. Israel has reason to believe that now, when Erdogan has chosen a side, an attempt will be made to reuse these pipelines. In recent weeks, in coordination with Israel, the United States and Britain have imposed economic sanctions on dozens of senior Hamas figures who have taken, and may still be taking part, in this network. The goal: to stop the flow of funds to Hamas. Many of the senior Hamas figures now under sanctions have been in Turkey over the years. Some of them have since migrated from there to Qatar and Lebanon.
According to Shin Bet figures, Erdogan allowed Hamas to maintain official offices in Istanbul, not only for political activity. From the headquarters in Istanbul, its branches or through its operatives, hundreds of terrorist attacks and attempted attacks have been directed over the years inside the State of Israel in general, and in Judea and Samaria in particular. The separation between Hamas' political wing and its military wing, a separation that Turkey has adhered to over the years, has not stood the test of reality.
It seems that for Israel, the milestone in the cooperation between Turkey and Hamas was the arrest in Israel in 2018 (and later – the expulsion) of Turkish jurist Prof. Jamil Takli. Takli was recruited in Turkey by one of those released in the Gilad Shalit deal, senior Hamas figure Zaher Jabarin. Jabarin, a protégé of the well-known Salah Arouri, was at the time in charge of the Hamas movement's budget, and at the same time, under Arouri's guidance, promoted extensive military terrorist activity in Judea and Samaria.
In an unusual and somewhat forgotten announcement issued by the Shin Bet at the time, it was written openly for the first time about what until then had been whispered only by word of mouth: "Turkey contributes to Hamas' military buildup... The findings of the investigation illustrate Hamas's extensive military and economic activity in Turkey, which takes place without any interference, turning a blind eye, and sometimes even with the encouragement of Turkish government officials, and with the assistance of Turkish citizens, some of whom are close to the government..."
During his interrogation, Tekli revealed that Hamas operates in Turkey in close ties to the top echelons of the government, and that senior Turkish government officials contribute to Hamas' military buildup through Sadat, a company that assists with funds and weapons for the establishment of a "Palestinian army" intended for war against Israel.
One of the company's employees even helped senior Hamas figures visit a weapons exhibition in Turkey where they expressed interest in drone capabilities. Hamas later operated drones nicknamed "Ababil" against Israel. These drones, for intelligence gathering and attack missions, were manufactured in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas official representative in Turkey
Most of Hamas' activity in Turkey in recent years was led by a group of prisoners released in the Gilad Shalit deal, who were expelled or arrived there. Some of them gained Turkish citizenship, and Turkey gradually became not only a hostel from which terror and attacks against Israel are directed (see box), but also a hostel where Hamas money launderers operate.
The funds were earmarked, among other things, for the military-terrorist wing in the Gaza Strip and for financing terrorist networks in the West Bank. Hamas operatives and collaborators in Turkey were engaged in raising funds, transferring funds, and operating money exchange companies through which terrorist funds were laundered.
The information in the possession of the Americans, who, as noted, imposed additional economic sanctions on some Hamas operatives in Turkey and Qatar a few days ago, indicates that the main source for transferring financial support to Hamas through Turkey (and sometimes also through Lebanon) was Iran. The transfers to Hamas were carried out through the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and the transfer process involved Hamas operatives and collaborators and exchange companies based in Turkey.
, Photo: AP
One of those companies was Radin, which was a conduit for the flow of funds in the array, and its deputy director was Ismail Tash. Another key figure was Zaher Jabarin, deputy leader of the "West Bank" in Hamas, who was in Turkey and transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to Judea and Samaria for Hamas terrorist activity.
The Shin Bet, during its interrogation, exposed extensive Hamas money laundering activity in Turkey under the direction of Zaher Jabarin, while turning a blind eye to the source of the funds. The investigation revealed that Hamas operatives owned a company called Imas. Hamas used it to disguise money laundering activities amounting to millions of dollars, which were transferred to the Gaza Strip and various countries. The Shin Bet noted that the company had opened an account at Ak-Bank in Turkey, and that the company's CEO had opened another bank account in his name at Turkey Finance Bank.
Another senior official sanctioned this week is Harun Nasr al-Din, a Turkish resident who holds Hamas' Jerusalem portfolio and is a close associate of Zaher Jabarin. Nasr ad-Din is one of the Hamas operatives who participated in a network that previously transferred funds from Turkey and Gaza to Hamas-Hebron. Two other figures targeted by the sanctions are Mohammed Kaya, who lives in Turkey and is suspected of providing financial services and transferring tens of millions of dollars to Hamas, and Jihad Yaghmour, Hamas' official representative in Turkey, who was involved in the murder of soldier Nachshon Waxman.
Yaghmour was deported to Turkey as part of the Shalit deal and was well absorbed there. In his official capacity, he currently serves as president of the Jerusalem and Our History Association, but according to security sources, this is only a cover job, and Yaghmour was also involved in "operating terrorist squads in Judea and Samaria under the guidance of Salah Arouri."
Yaghmour's ties to the Turkish authorities are almost visible. On 14 December 2019, he accompanied a Hamas delegation headed by Ismail Haniyeh on a visit to Turkey, and that same month met with the deputy chairman of the Justice and Development Party for Foreign Affairs in Turkey. In May 2019, Yaghmour accompanied Khaled Mashaal, chairman of Hamas' political bureau, to a meeting with a senior figure in Turkey's Justice and Development Party.
In Shin Bet interrogations of detainees in Israel, Yaghmour's name emerged as a key liaison between Turkey and Hamas. An investigative report by the Investigative Journal channel from 27 November 11 also identified Yaghmour as the liaison between Hamas and the Turkish authorities. The Telegraph reported in December 19 that Shi'mour maintains daily contacts with Turkish intelligence services. Turkish intelligence cooperates with Western intelligence agencies in the fight against terrorism, and is responsible for transferring intelligence information to a number of government officials in Turkey – from President Erdogan, through the prime minister and chief of staff, to the secretary general of the National Security Council and other organizations in Turkey.
"You are the future of Europe"
"Erdogan," said an internal defense establishment document, "is the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle East and sees Turkey as the 'new Ottoman Empire.' Since the beginning of his term, he has aspired to become a sultan, promotes his Islam by supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, not Fatah, and is trying to acquire hegemony, even in Europe, through illegal immigration."
The document quotes Erdogan as openly calling on Turks in Europe to have more children: "The places where you live and work are now your homeland and your new country. Claim them firmly! Start more businesses and enroll your children in better schools. Move with your families to better neighborhoods. Drive the best cars, buy the most beautiful houses and have five children. Not just three, because you are the future of Europe."
Turkey has been exporting imams to mosques throughout Europe for many years, as part of Erdogan's consistent expression, but this week Germany, in light of Erdogan's support for Hamas, decided to stop these imports and determined that Turkish imams would be trained for their jobs only in its territory (report by Dr. Asa Ophir).
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