Turkey Supports Hamas, Which Means an Alliance With Israel Isn’t Going To Happen

Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak’s excellent essay of June 7 asks three vital questions. First, can Israel and Turkey restore their alliance? Second, how do recent world events affect this effort? Lastly, is reconciliation desirable?

Let’s work backwards. There is no doubt that reconciliation with Turkey is desirable, at least from Israel’s perspective. The tensions with Turkey are unwanted across the security establishment. And normalization with Muslim states is broadly welcomed by the public. Turkey, for its part, is now also signaling that it wishes to reconcile after years of antagonizing the Jewish state and supporting its enemies. One might ask, however, whether Ankara’s intentions are pure. The effort to draw Israel near appears to stem from the presumption that Jewish power is the key to realigning with Washington. That’s not the ideal motivation. But rapprochement for any reason is probably preferable to open hostilities.

Regarding the second question, Yanarocak has done an admirable job examining the ways in which recent global crises and opportunities may impact decision-making in Ankara and Jerusalem. But the operative word is “may.” These are unknowns.