Israel's wooing of Turkey is as silly as America's wooing of Iran

Submitted by Anon (Israel), Dec 17, 2015 at 04:57

From the same article : "Turkish President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that "the entire region would benefit from normalization of ties" between Israel and Turkey.

"So much in the region could benefit from a process of normalization ," he said, adding, "we have set three conditions: an apology – made; compensation – that has not happened, and ending the blockade on the Palestinians. If the issue of compensation and the closure will be resolved, we will enter a process of normalization."

Erdogan was making reference to an apology and an agreement for reparations made in March, 2013, at the behest of US President Barack Obama, who was then visiting Israel.

Almost immediately, a senior Israeli official rejected the approach, saying "we have nothing to talk about so long as he continues to set these conditions. Its impossible."

Netanyahu rival and former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned that "normalization with Turkey would be viewed negatively by #Russia, #Greece & #Cyprus.""

I doubt anything good could possibly come out of chasing after Turkey and from viewing an agreement as leading to bigger and better things in the future. Turkey's course is set. I worry that Israel will damage its relations with Greece, Cyprus and Russia in a vain and misguided attempt to build bridges with Erdogan's Turkey. Turkey's demands should be firmly rejected. Moreover, I doubt Israel can count on any diplomatic promises Turkey might make.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".