Israel Waits for Erdogan
Deteriorating relations with Syria, Iran and post-Muslim Brotherhood Egypt force Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to re-establish the strategic alliance with Israel.
An imminent breakthrough in normalization efforts between Israel and Turkey "should not surprise anyone; I do not see any political obstacle standing in the way of normalization,” a senior Turkish official was quoted as saying to the Today’s Zaman newspaper on Sept. 5.
And it is true that no one should be surprised. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan now has all the reasons in the world to swallow his pride and go back to restoring close ties with Turkey’s former ally, Israel.
It isn’t easy for him. From the moment he sniped at President Shimon Peres at Davos in 2009, saying, “You know well how to kill,” to his most recent outburst stating that Israel is behind the military coup in Egypt, Erdogan’s mouth has fired off a bevy of such pearls, leaving no room for doubt. He not only loathes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he also despises anything to do with Israelis.
Allow me to pause for a moment on the latest Erdogan's gems: his statement accusing Israel of planning the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood [in Egypt]. How is it possible that while Turkish and Israeli diplomatic teams are struggling to reach an agreement and to purge the bad blood between the two countries, Erdogan would fire off yet another deadly round, threatening the relationship between Turkey and Israel.
