Israeli Apology Pushes Hamas Away From Turkey

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s apology to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave credence to Hamas’ contention that Israel can only be dealt with through force. That is exactly the path Turkey has followed in the past three years.

At the same time, Hamas did not rejoice when Erdogan hastily accepted Netanyahu’s apology, which only means that the ties between Ankara and Tel Aviv will be re-established. In other words, Hamas has feared that rifts in the strong relationship between the movement and Erdogan — whom it considered for the past years to be its staunch ally — would start to appear, since these relationships are inversely proportional: when Ankara distances itself from Israel, the relationship between the former and Hamas draws closer and vice versa.

Subsequently, concern surfaced within Hamas that the renewed relationships between Turkey and Israel will adversely affect the relatively harmonious political stances of Hamas and Turkey, even though the influential weight of each differs. Hamas is a movement with limited capacities and connections, while Turkey is one of the most powerful countries in the region with an impact and leverage that Hamas does not undervalue, rather considering it to be a regional and perhaps international shield in the near future.

Nevertheless, Erdogan’s call to inform Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal that he had accepted Netanyahu’s apology was worth noting. Erdogan did not call to get approval, a fact that Hamas is fully aware of. Yet, the call was a sign that communication channels will still be open with the movement and that Erdogan, as announced, will not give up on the Palestinians to revive the relationships with Israel, a nightmarish scenario that Hamas does not wish to see at any time in the future.