Long-term prospects for Israel and Turkey

Sep 7, 2011

By Victor Kotsev

Last Thursday, the New York Times published a leaked copy of the United Nations report addressing the takeover of the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara by Israeli commandos on May 31, 2010, which resulted in the death of nine people and the injury of over 50 more.
The leak ended a prolonged diplomatic intrigue as well as a concerted effort to smooth over the accompanying Turkish-Israeli donnybrook and to tone down the report. Yet this crisis is fairly insignificant compared to the larger context of instability in the Middle East, and it is unlikely to be decisive in Turkish-Israeli relations in the long term.

The Palmer report, named after Geoffrey Palmer, the former prime minister of New Zealand who headed the United Nations inquiry panel into last year's incident, concludes that the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip is justified, but characterizes the Israeli use of force as "excessive and unreasonable."

It makes several important points, accepting the Israeli claim that January 3, 2009, was the staring point of the naval blockade, and differentiating between the latter and "the land crossings policy". It blames Turkey for not doing enough to stop the run on the blockade, but also criticizes Israel severely. It claims, among other things, that Israel conducted an overly secretive operation, and failed to issue all the recommended warnings due to a desire "to avoid publicity".

Turkey reacted furiously, rejecting the report. At least in the short term, it truly looks as if Israeli-Turkish relations have hit their lowest point in 30 years, as several analysts put it. (In 1980, Israel annexed East Jerusalem, and Turkey reacted with similar rancor).

in full: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MI07Ak03.html

The alliance is not intended as 'revenge' against Israel; Erdogan's intention is to extend Turkey's influence to areas it has not reached in past decades.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/turkey-set-to-sign-military-pact-with-egypt-after-cutting-frayed-ties-with-israel-1.382955