The Beach Battles

Israel is fighting wars on many fronts, waging diplomatic and political battles with its friends and enemies alike.

This weekend, a series of Iran-made rockets landed in Israel’s foremost resort town, the Red Sea and the nearby Jordanian city of Aqaba. While no Israelis were injured, a Jordanian taxi driver was killed and several others were injured in the terror attack. Israeli officials contend the rockets were launched from Egypt, while Egyptian authorities claim the rockets were fired from Jordan, an assertion rejected by Jordanian officials.

This incident, which affected Jordanians and Israelis alike, represents the proxy war that is ongoing between Israel and its enemies, fueled in large part by the West’s arch nemesis Iran. With tensions escalating between Israel, the United States and Iran over the rogue nation’s nuclear ambitions, the Iranian military cannot directly attack Israel without facing serious repercussions that would result in carpet bombings of Iranian facilities by the Israeli air force. Instead, for years Iran has supplied weapons to Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups in an effort to strike Israel through proxies. In essence, Israel is fighting Iran’s pawns on all sides with Hezbollah in the North and other terror groups in Egypt and Gaza in the south.

But, Israel is also fighting Iran diplomatically through proxies. Israel and the Erdogan-led Turkish government are increasingly clashing over security-related issues. Erdogan has largely attempted to strengthen Turksih ties with the entire Muslim World, and in doing so he has become a hero in Hamas circles. In fact, a top Hamas leader recently called Erdogan his “grandson,” clearly showing affection from an Iran-backed terror group for a (former) Israeli ally.

This conflict with Turkey has considerably impacted Israeli security, with Defense Minister Ehud Barak expressing concern this week that the Turkish military will provide military secrets to the Iranian regime. With Iran clearly supporting Israel’s enemies, disclosure of secrets could substantially endanger Israel, its defense infrastructure and the prospects of a successful strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.

However, even though Erdogan and his anti-Israel views are welcomed by Iran and Hamas, some Turks are rejecting the recent shift– and they’re doing it on the beach.

Israelis have long viewed Turkey as a prime vacation destination, often taking three-night excursions to Turkish beach resorts or spending holidays on the rocky Turkish shores. Well, Israeli-Turkish tensions are beginning to hurt the Turks where it counts — in their wallets. Now, the mayor of a major Turkish beach town is inviting Israelis to return, and is citing his opposition to the newly formed tension that is undercutting the Turkish economy.

Moreover, Turkish businesses are still importing Israeli goods with no hesitation. According to newly released statistics, Israeli exports to Turkey have not dropped since May, when the Gaza-bound flotilla from Turkey spiked tensions between the two countries.

But, while the Turks are still buying Israeli goods, the same cannot be said about Israeli purchases. In fact, earlier this summer a major Israeli supermarket chain began to boycott Turkish products and other businesses were expected to follow suit.

This economic battle between Israel and Turkey has largely played out on the beach, while the military war’s latest attack occurred on the shores of Eilat. Militarily, Iran is clearly behind these attacks, but he rogue regime is also extremely influential in the regions politics, with the courtship between Iran and Turkey beginning to worry the Israeli government.

Hamas made its choice to support terror and align itself with Iran. Erdogan has his own choice to make — follow Hamas’ lead and face potential major backlash domestically, or reverse course and reaffirm an important military and economic alliance that has fueled growth on his country’s shores.