Yedioth Ahronoth
By: Itamar Eichner
July 15, 2021
The Turkish president and his associates have sent messages to Israel that Ankara is interested in restoring relations with Jerusalem, and offers to act as a mediator with Hamas to advance Israeli interests such as the issue of prisoners and missing persons. Senior Israeli officials: We will not normalize relations as long as Hamas’ military wing activity in Istanbul is not stopped
Turkish President Erdogan (Photo: AP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his immediate entourage have recently sent messages to Israel that Turkey is interested in restoring relations with Israel and offers to act as an intermediary between Israel and Hamas to advance important issues for the State of Israel, such as the issue of prisoners and missing persons. These messages were conveyed by the Turkish Ambassador to the United States, Murat Markan, who is considered one of the people closest to Erdogan and who only started last March to serve as the Turkish Ambassador to the United States.
One of the first talks Markan made after arriving in Washington was to Rabbi Mark Schneier, a well-known American rabbi who heads a foundation for Jewish-Muslim interfaith understanding that has been coming and going in the palaces of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE for the past 15 years. Rabbi Schneier was previously defined by Newsweek magazine as one of the 50 most influential rabbis in the United States. He is the rabbi of the Hampton Synagogue in New York and one of his nicknames is the rabbi of celebs in the United States.
Rabbi Schneier and the Turkish Ambassador (Photo: Hampton Synagogue)
The Turkish ambassador asked Rabbi Schneier to help him hold his first public event in Washington: an after-dinner (breaking the Ramadan fast) at the Turkish embassy attended by Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders. “I was very surprised to receive this call. Officials in the State Department were also surprised that it was the Turkish ambassador’s first action,” Rabbi Schneier told Yedioth Ahronoth. Schneier responded positively to the Turkish ambassador’s request and helped him hold the ifter meal – which was a great success.
Rabbi Schneier said that the Turkish ambassador told him that he had been sent by Erdogan to correct the bilateral ties between Turkey and the United States and also to correct the ties between Turkey and American Jewry. “I explained to him that the first thing to do is to improve relations with the State of Israel. This should be his first priority,” Schneier said.
Since then the two have been in touch. Last Sunday, Rabbi Schneier hosted the Turkish ambassador at his synagogue in Hampton and the Turkish ambassador addressed an audience of 250 wealthy Jews, some of them leaders of major Jewish organizations in the United States in the past.
We have a wonderful relationship when it comes to the economy, the people, the tourism. Our problem is the political issue. You may feel uncomfortable with some of the relationships we have with other groups in the Middle East such as Hamas, but you should take advantage of that relationship and see how you “We can use it for the benefit of the State of Israel,” the Turkish ambassador added. He added that “there are behind-the-scenes discussions on how to maintain better ties between Turkey and Israel.”
The Israeli demand: to stop the activities of the military arm. Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar (Photo: AP)
“Normalize relations? Only after Turkey stops Hamas activity in Istanbul”
The next day , Erdogan called President Herzog . According to Schneier, the Turkish ambassador told Rabbi Schneier that the meeting in Hampton and the dialogue with American Jewry was a catalyst for the existence of the same conversation between Erdogan and Herzog.
At a meeting in Hampton, Rabbi Schneier asked the ambassador about the Iran issue and how Turkey intends to repair its relations with Biden, the United States and Israel. With the new government, I believe that anything new is possible.”
Rabbi Schneier said that “I know the intention for change from Erdogan’s direction is real, because he understands that in order to improve relations with the government and Congress he must improve relations with Israel. If he does not do so – he may have problems with American government and American Jewry. I will not prophesy and can not say that it is not tactical. Only time will tell if this is a real and profound change.”
The message from Erdogan and his ambassador regarding Hamas comes against the background of the fact that Israel has conditioned the warming of relations with Turkey by stopping giving refuge to members of the terrorist organization in Istanbul.
Haniyeh and Erdogan in Turkey
Turkey has long signaled to Israel that it is interested in warming ties with Jerusalem, but Jerusalem is being treated with suspicion after being scolded by Erdogan over the reconciliation agreement following the Mavi Marmara incident.
The Turks accuse Israel of delaying the normalization of relations and opening a new page. Israel, on the other hand, accuses the Turks of allowing Hamas to operate from their territory. According to various publications, the Turks have hardened their attitude towards Hamas members who are in Turkey, refused their requests for visas and even summoned them for interrogations upon their arrival or departure from the country to monitor their movements. It was also reported that Hamas was working to recruit Palestinian students in Istanbul to send them to the West Bank and carry out terrorist acts.
Senior Israeli officials recently said that Israel would not normalize relations with Turkey or return an ambassador to Ankara as long as the latter did not close down the activities of Hamas’ military wing in Istanbul. Of Hamas in the West Bank.
Warming up in a relationship? Herzog and Erdogan (Photo: Avi Ohayon GPO, AP)
Erdogan calls on President Herzog: “High potential for cooperation with Israel”
On Monday this week, Erdogan called to congratulate President Yitzhak Herzog, telling him that cooperation between Turkey and Israel has great potential in a number of areas. The surprising conversation lasted about 40 minutes, and took place after Erdogan’s prolonged break with Israeli leaders, although Erdogan still maintained some loose ties with former President Reuven Rivlin.
The President’s Office said: “President Yitzhak Herzog spoke by telephone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. During the conversation, President Erdogan congratulated President Herzog on his inauguration. “For cooperation between the two countries in many areas, especially in the fields of energy, tourism and technology.”
“In the conversation, we noted that despite the corona plague, bilateral trade between the countries is expanding and developing the full range of economic ties between them,” it added. “The presidents attach great importance to the continuation of contacts and continuous dialogue despite all the disagreements, in order to promote positive steps to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that will also contribute to the improvement of Israeli-Turkish relations.”
Turkish news agency Anadolu issued a statement similar to the one issued by the presidential house, but added that “Erdogan told Herzog that the international community expects a comprehensive, permanent and comprehensive two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as part of UN resolutions.”
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