Middle East leaders held two meetings this week that exemplify recent foreign policy crises and personality clashes between Israel and its allies, along with internal disputes.
Israel has been embroiled in, what is turning into, a years-long dispute with Turkey. Since the ascension of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the two countries have clashed, trading barbs and insults on Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians and the Armenian genocide. While tension between the two allies accelerated after Operation Cast Lead, Turkey colluded with a terror-linked organization to send aide to Gaza and chastised Israel for preventing the flotilla to break the naval blockade.
Since the creation of the modern Turkish state, the secular party has generally wielded significant power — that is until Erdogan rose to power and decided to align Turkey with the Muslim world by distancing itself from Israel.
While officials from around the world regularly meet with Hamas chief Khaled Mash’al, a recent meeting between the terror leader and a Turkish Foreign Ministry official indicates increased ties between (former) ally of Israel with one of its enemies. Officials discussed Palestinian reconciliation efforts and the Israeli blockade on Gaza, with the Hamas chief applauding recent Turkish efforts.
The congenial nature of the meeting between a terror group and a country seeking entry into the European Union runs in direct juxtaposition to another meeting between Turkey and Israel. Instead of demonstrating friendly relations, a top Israeli Foreign Ministry official made news earlier this year for refusing to shake hands with a Turkish counterpart, resulting in apologies from the Israeli government for insulting a supposed ally.
While Turkey seems to be getting along just fine with a terror group, the countries relations with a democratic country continue to strain.
But, that tension is in no part solely Turkey’s fault, as a rift in the Israeli government has also fueled internal disputes that have the Israeli government speaking with several different heads. Relations between Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Leiberman have been increasingly tense lately, especially following the Prime Minister’s circumvention of Leiberman in a recent high profile meeting. Moreover, support from Leiberman’s party is keeping Netanyahu’s coalition together, and additional tension could, at least temporarily, threaten Likud’s hold on the government.
The two Israeli leaders held a long meeting this week to sort through their disputes and, at least for now, it appears that the Likud-led coalition will not fall. That said, Leiberman’s wrangling of foreign policy, particularly regarding the Turks, has riled Netanyahu and accelerated tension between Israel and Turkey could further widen the gap between the two Israeli leaders.
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