Many Israelis were elated yet astounded upon hearing the news of the release of the Oknins from Turkey overnight Wednesday.
Just hours earlier, media reports predicted a long and protracted struggle, especially after Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu publicly said on Tuesday that prosecutors will accuse Oknins of military-political espionage. How was there such a dramatic turnabout in such a short amount of time, with the Oknins addressing the public from their porch by Thursday morning?
Israeli media reports on Thursday morning described the diversionary tactics used to keep the diplomatic efforts completely secret in order not to sabotage the couple’s release.
According to a Ynet report, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid already informed the Oknins’ family members on Wednesday afternoon of the couple’s imminent release. Several hours later, a recording of the Oknins’ children speaking with their mother in prison was released on Israeli TV, with no hint that Israel had already been informed of the couple’s release.
A Walla report added that Ibrahim Kalin, a senior adviser of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, informed Irit Lillian, the charge d’affaires of the Israeli embassy in Ankara, of the decision to release the couple on Wednesday afternoon.
A small group of around 10 senior Israeli officials were aware of the decision. The Foreign Ministry immediately informed the family and requested that they not reveal the news to anyone. At the same time, the Foreign Ministry asked the military censor to impose a media blackout on the affair.
The family members maintained utter secrecy and when public officials came to visit them on Wednesday, they didn’t breathe a word that they had already heard good news.
Senior Foreign Ministry officials explained that several days ago, and especially after the comments of the Turkish Interior Minister, a decision was made to increase contacts with the Turks on two fronts – Lillian, the charge d’affaires in Ankara, spoke with Erdogan’s adviser Ibrahim Kalin, and Mossad head Dedi Barnea spoke with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan.
“It was made clear to the Turks that the affair must end quickly so it won’t develop in an even more severe crisis,” the Walla report stated. “The efforts began to bear fruit already on Tuesday. A message from Kalin to Lillian conveyed that it was a local incident that grew out of proportion and that there was no political motivation or ‘order from the top’ behind the incident,” and promised to resolve the situation.
Senior Foreign Ministry officials said that the incident “fell” on Erdogan and he needed time to take care of it and bring it a satisfactory conclusion.
On Wednesday, the Oknins were taken for medical tests in prison and tested for COVID. On Wednesday night, a private plane leased by the Foreign Ministry secretly left for Istanbul. That night, the Oknins weren’t deported but were simply released from jail and boarded the plane back to Israel.
“Erdogan understood that he shouldn’t pick a fight with Israel and he could also gain from a good ending to the affair,” a senior Foreign Ministry official said, as quoted by Walla.
The report added that the Turks did not demand any political price for the Oknins’ release.
President Issac Herzog was also heavily involved in the efforts to release the couple, speaking with senior Turkish officials about the matter.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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This is a government that works for its citizens. Trump was like this for Americans caught up abroad. And Sharon fought to get a Druze released from Egyptian jail. His family said the left governments ignored him while rightwing Sharon fought for him.