Peter Lyukimson, Israel. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
U.S. President Barack Obama called Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to urge him to normalize relations with Israel.During the telephone conversation with Erdogan, Obama made no secret that he considers the normalization of relations between the two countries to be in their strategic interests.
However, now in Israel there is no hurry toward normalization. Most recently, the Israeli and Turkish media reported that Israel and Turkey reached an agreement on the main issues related to the incident on the ship "Mavi Marmara," and are closer than ever to signing an agreement on normalization.However, the very next day after Erdogan said that such an agreement will be signed, if Israel fully lifts the Gaza blockade, i.e. allows supplies to the Gaza by sea and through its sovereign territory of any goods without prior examination.
This requirement of the Turkish government was sharply rejected by both Israel and Egypt, which consider the Gaza Strip to be a major breeding ground for terrorism and a source of destabilization of the situation on the Sinai Peninsula. Israel, as expected, refused, immediately transferring the message of their reply to Cairo.
The reasons that forced Obama to call Ankara are understandable. It was he who once "set up" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, persuading him to give Erdogan the apology he had wanted, although the UN commission confirmed the legitimacy of both the blockade of Gaza and the action to intercept the "Free Gaza" flotilla, reprimanding Israel only for "excessive use of force" in the storming of the ferry "Mavi-Marmara". Obama then assured Netanyahu that "all issues are closed" and Ankara is only waiting for him to call.
Now the U.S. is trying to ensure that Turkey and Israel coordinate their actions against the growing shaft of fundamentalist terror emanating from Syria. However, it is difficult to say whether the call of the U.S. President will bring the desired result. The fact is that since the apology to Turkey, things have changed, and in the Foreign Ministry of Israel other winds are blowing now.
We should remember that from the very beginning, one of the fiercest opponents of apologies and normalization of relations with Turkey with Erdogan in power, was the leader of "Our Home - Israel," Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Only after Lieberman was put on trial and forced to resign as foreign minister, Netanyahu was able to make a step towards Turkey.
However, Lieberman is now the foreign minister.In his most recent speeches, he has consistently stressed that Israel is interested in rapprochement and cooperation with the Islamic world, and this convergence is already underway. But at the same time, Lieberman lists Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan (and more recently, and Turkmenistan), Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, etc., as existing and future partners of Israel, but never mentions Turkey on this list. The Israeli Foreign Minister is convinced that Israel could easily live without Turkey (especially after the recently signed agreement on the removal of all restrictions on air communication between Israel and Russia), and therefore there is no hurry.
So it is possible that Erdogan's demand for the lifting of the blockade on Gaza has played into the hands of Avigdor Lieberman and other Israeli politicians opposing the restoration of relations with Turkey. However, given the importance of the relations with "Uncle Sam" for both countries, it is possible that normalization will still take place. However, Israel would prefer to await the outcome of the elections in Turkey.
