In a surprising discovery, the person who arranged the phone call between President Isaac Herzog and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday was Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Israel Hayom learned Tuesday from sources privy to the matter.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Abbas met with Erdogan last week during a three-day diplomatic visit to Ankara. And while speaking to the media, the PA leader claimed that "Israeli aggression in Jerusalem continues," it seems that behind the scenes, he was trying to revive the relationship between Israel and Turkey that were once close regional partners.
While it is not clear what motivated Abbas, it was most likely an attempt to keep Erdogan from working with Hamas, the terrorist group that wrestled control of the Gaza Strip from his Fatah party in a military coup in 2006.
"The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has always been a major issue between Jerusalem and Ankara," Karel Valansi, a political commentator for Turkish online outlet T24, told Israel Hayom.
"But in the last decade especially, it became part of the domestic politics with a huge vote potential for all political parties in Turkey. Even the potential of the energy cooperation could not pass this block.
"The personal animosity between Erdogan and [former Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu did not leave much space to normalize the bilateral relations," she said.
"Ankara was looking for a new name to work with, and now Israel has a new government and also a new president. I expected a positive development between the two countries following the last elections in Israel, and it came about as a phone conversation between Herzog and Erdogan."
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
