Recent diplomatic developments between Israel and Turkey, especially after the arrest of the Oknins and remarks attributed to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, indicate that relations between the two countries are thawing, with help from a third country, the United Arab Emirates.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
The UAE has played and is still playing a very critical, not to say decisive, role in stabilizing the region as well as helping Israeli-Turkish relations return to what they were prior to the Marmara affair in terms of security, diplomacy, and economics.
It's no coincidence that the UAE, which has one of the strongest economies in the world, has now decided to establish a dedicated fund to invest in Turkey's crumbling economy. The Emirates have allocated over $9 billion to keep the Turkish government stable, as well as increasing their own involvement in the world.
The Emirates, with its impressive economic capabilities, has been trying for a few years to assert some influence in the Middle East. It started before the Abraham Accords were signs, and the accords actually revealed how deep the relations between the two countries were and how closely they were already collaborating on strategic coordination, particularly on security matters. It's no coincidence that the man picked to serve in the most important role of Emirati Ambassador to Israel was Mohamed Al Khaja, one of the most promising young people in the Arab world and one of its most influential figures on its diplomatic relations.
In terms of the latest developments, one should stress the relations between the UAE and Syria. Recently, Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan led a delegation of senior Emirati officials who met with Syrian leader Bashar Assad to discuss the aid the UAE would give him to help Syria out of the crisis created by its long war.
Although most Arab leaderships have cut ties with Assad, the Emirati visit appears to be a sort of recognition of his victory and the weakening of the Syrian opposition, which opposes inherited presidential power and has found haven in Turkey and a few Arab states. Assad was the only Arab ruler who survived the Arab Spring of 2011, although it took help from Russia and Iran and active involvement by Hezbollah to keep him in power.
Meanwhile, in Jordan, after a senior Emirati official visited Amman, King Abdullah agreed to speak to Assad by phone a decade after Jordan cut ties with Syria. This happened close to a meeting between Abdullah and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Amman, and indicates that most Arab states appear willing to bring Syria back into the Arab League, from which it was ousted due to the regime's brutal treatment of Syrian citizens.
All these moves, both open and behind the scenes, should translate into improved Israeli-Turkish relations, under the leadership of the UAE. It will start with huge economic investments, but will very soon progress to diplomatic issues, and it wouldn't surprise me if a summit between the leaders of Israel, Turkey, and the UAE were already being planned.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
