Op-eds
/ Israel and the East Mediterranean
In the last couple of days, Israel’s Counter Terrorism Bureau has warned Israeli citizens against travelling to Turkey for fear of terrorist attacks, and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused Israel of a “massacre” in Gaza. But these headlines shouldn’t override the fact that there has been a relative calm in Israel-Turkey relations recently, following the acrimony over the Mavi Marmara flotilla incident nearly two years ago. It may be surprising for many Israelis to discover that there are voices in Turkey consistently calling for closer links between Jerusalem and Ankara, and that these figures see hope in disorder: that the regional turmoil can in fact serve as a catalyst for mending Israel-Turkey relations.
