Alan Makovsky
JINSA, Mar. 8, 2022
“A key lesson of the past fourteen years is that tension in Israeli-Turkish relations often begins because of Turkey’s identification with Hamas.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s arrival in Turkey – the first such visit in fifteen years, a significant regional event now vastly overshadowed by the Russian war on Ukraine – puts a spotlight on Ankara’s relationship with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
Although Israeli officials have said that Israel did not place any conditions on Herzog’s visit, it is well-known that Turkish support for Hamas deeply disturbs Jerusalem. It should also disturb Washington, which, like Israel, labels Hamas a terrorist group. And it’s a sure-fire bet that Turkey’s involvement with Hamas will be on the agenda when Herzog meets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan face-to-face. If it wants to contribute to Turkish-Israeli normalization – as it should – the United States should do its best to push Turkey ideally to cut its ties to the terrorist group or at least to condition its ties on Hamas’ renouncing violence and recognizing Israel.
Turkey’s indulgence of Hamas is at odds with Turkey’s own experience and formal policies. As a country that has had its own problems with terrorism, Turkey seemingly has every reason to be repulsed by Hamas’ version of “armed struggle” and its history of intentional targeting of civilians. Moreover, as a Western-allied nation that has had uninterrupted relations with Israel since 1949 and has consistently backed a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian problem, it should be easy for Turkey to call on Hamas to accept Israel in its post-1949 borders. Ankara would only be asking Hamas to adopt Ankara’s own approach. Erdogan, even in his most vicious rhetorical salvos against Israel, has never denied Israel’s right to exist.
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