Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is planning to visit Hamas-occupied Gaza towards assessing if Israel has made good on promises made to Ankara. Part of the deal leading to a mending of ties between Jerusalem and Ankara include an Israeli easing of restrictions on Gaza and the Turkish leader plans to maximize his upper hand with an official visit to Gaza sometime in April.
It appears the Turkish leader plans to restore diplomatic ties with Israel gradually, signaling this will not occur immediately despite the official apology issued by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is credited with brokering the apology towards restoring ties between Israel and Turkey. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated that concerns over the chemical weapons storehouses in Syria prompted his decision, with the realization that the threats from the collapsing regime in Syria today compel renewed ties with Israel’s former staunch ally, Turkey.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
The deal that Kerry brokered is even smarter than I realized. By authorizing Turkey to enforce the agreements that Israel made with respect to Hamas-controlled Gaza, he has placed a non-Arab, Western-leaning, modern Muslim government in the role of Hamas ally, which could have a positive effect on moderating the Muslim extremism of Hamas and the Arabs of Gaza. There is no guarantee that this will actually have the outcome Israel desires, but it improves the chances for better relations between Israel and Hamas-controlled Gaza.
Israel needs to be “allied” with G-D, not with Turkey to secure themselves from the various dangers surrounding them.