It seems that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently embarked on a rapprochement with Israel. Israel should scrutinize his intentions, reinstate ambassadors, renew the dialogue, and strengthen economic ties. Jerusalem must do so without enthusiasm, and with great suspicion, especially when it comes to coordination with Egypt, the Gulf states, Cyprus and Greece.
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To determine his unstable character, his continued hostility toward Israel and systematic support of the struggle against it, it is vital to remember his moves over the past decade. For example, his clash with former Prime Minister Shimon Peres in Davos, the Mavi Marmara crisis, attempt to open the Gaza port to arms shipments, continuous antisemitic remarks, incitement of hatred against Israel, support for Hamas, providing a safe haven to Hamas terrorist Saleh al-Arouri, fueling tensions over the Temple Mount, and more.
To determine the nature of the regime Erdogan led in Turkey, it is crucial to remember the unfounded hopes of former President Barack Obama with regard to the "moderate" Muslim Brotherhood in Ankara (and Cairo), until the truth became clear, and expectedly so, to all those who chose to deceive themselves.
Erdogan is not the only megalomaniac dictator in the region, and probably not even the most brutal one. However, Turkey is different, and not just because it is a member of NATO. In the 80 years before Erdogan's counter-revolution, it managed to emerge from regional tyranny and backwardness and establish a regime aimed at modernization and democratization.
Erdogan undermined much of former Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's achievements and dragged Turkey back into patterns that make it difficult to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Nevertheless, none of these should prevent the improvement of ties. Turkey is a regional power, and preventing active hostility towards Israel even temporarily is no small matter, especially as Israel deals with Iran and its proxies without US backing from the United States to its allies in the region. Economic cooperation with Turkey would strengthen the Israeli economy.
Along with insisting that Ankara's ambassador is not hostile toward Israel and that it drops most of its support for Hamas and the subversive entities in Jerusalem, it is important to make clear to anyone who is swept with enthusiasm: The overlap of interests between us and our allies is immeasurably more important than Erdogan.
Erdogan is facing serious challenges in Europe and the US due to his tyranny at home and regional aggression. Israel should not advocate on Turkey's behalf in the West or whitewash, for example, how it undermined the vital interests of NATO with its ties to Russia, or radicalized Turkish minorities in Europe.
More importantly, Erdogan threatens various Israel-friendly elements in the region, namely Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Gulf States, Jordan, Kurds, Greece and Cyprus. Jerusalem must never betray them in an attempt to appease their enemy. This is what Washington did and as a result they lost faith in America.
In 2013, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi saved the Middle East and Israel from the Muslim Brotherhood. Despite seeing eye to eye with regard to Libya, Cairo considers the brotherhood and Erdogan enemies. They are also a threat to Jordan and the Gulf. Erdogan is slaughtering Kurds in his country and Syria.
He seeks to take over the eastern basin of the Mediterranean and the gas and marine resources of Cyprus and Greece. Israel's entire complex network of alliances in the region will be harmed if they will think Israel's ties with Erdogan will come at their expense. Erdogan's Turkey is not a strategic partner. Ties with Ankara are desirable and would be of great benefit, but Israel should be careful.
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