Israel’s security establishment urges caution on Turkey ties – report

Israel’s security establishment is urging the government to act with caution and not rush into normalising ties with Turkey, the Israel Hayom newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Although Turkey, with an eye on repairing ties with the United States, is wooing Israel and insisting that the activities of Hamas on its territory are strictly "political", Israel's security forces are concern about plans organized by 'Hamas-in-Turkey', Israel Hayom said.
 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is using Israel to put him back in a position to influence the Biden administration, one security official said. Israel should respect him, but be wary, the official said.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog is due to meet with Erdoğan in Turkey early this month as the two sides seek to repair ties broken by Turkey’s support for Hamas and Turkish criticism of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. Several senior Hamas members reside in Turkey, where they conduct business for the organisation, Israel Hayom said.

Herzog represents a symbolic figure as president of Israel, rather than a political one, and a meeting with Erdoğan can be a tool to be used to “check developments and implications, all at a slow pace”, an Israeli official told the Haaretz newspaper late last month.

A decision is being made to change ties with Turkey from ‘frozen’ to ‘cool’ and Israel won’t move ahead with “symbolic things” such as an exchange of ambassadors or economic deals “without clear things in return from Turkey”, another official said.

The Israeli security and defence establishment wants to remind the Israeli political officials of the dangers of moving too quickly to re-establish ties with Turkey while Israel continually deal with Hamas directs from the country, the newspaper said.