Middle East Analysis: A Restoration of Relations between Turkey and Israel?

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It appears that a significant split is opening within the Israeli Government.

On Sunday, Israel’s Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer departed with 20 businesspeople for a three-day visit to Turkey. Before his departure, he signalled that Ankara could return to a position as mediator of Israel’s conflict: “As a regional power and Muslim democracy, Turkey has the ability to bridge the gaps between us and our neighbors and bring about normalization and co-existence in the region.”

However, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman harshly opposed any plan bringing Ankara back to the table. Lieberman said, “I don’t think that Turkey’s position as a mediator between Israel and Syria can be restored in light of [the Turkish leadership's] slurs against Israel and its statements about preferring a Sudanese murderer to Israel’s prime minister.”

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 06:11 and is filed under Middle East & Iran. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.