Given that the 2016 "reconciliation agreement" Israel signed with Turkey did not end well for us, the government must proceed with caution with regard to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent courtship. His country's economy is struggling greatly and he is in desperate need of allies.
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Contrary to what Erdogan had promised, he did not prevent anti-Israel terrorist activity from being conducted on Turkish soil. In the decade since the Mavi Marmara affair, hundreds of terrorist attacks were planned by Hamas members from Turkey. Ankara has created a safe haven for them and some were even granted Turkish citizenship.
Turkey's ties with Hamas and other terror cells have been repeatedly exposed over the years. The terrorist attack in Jerusalem's Malha Mall, Teddy Stadium, light rail, and Central Bus Station, as well as in Beer Sheba and Tel Hashomer military base are just several of those planned in Turkey. As were attempts of a coup in the Palestinian Authority, assassinations of Israeli figures, military training in Turkey for the purpose of conducting more attacks and kidnappings.
Just recently, the Shin Bet security agency uncovered a large-scale Hamas terror plot with dozens of operatives, suicide-bomb vests, and weapons recovered in counter-terror raids. These efforts were led by Hamas leaders Saleh al-Arouri and Zakaria Najib from Turkey.
Several months earlier, the Shin Bet arrested four members of a Hamas cell near Hebron, who were led by Abdel Rahman Ranimat, also from Turkey.
Until recently, Turkey has been the center of Hamas' financial affairs, including financing terrorist activities in Judea and Samaria. Perhaps it still is. In December 2021, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked signed an order banning 11 Hamas members from East Jerusalem from leaving the country. They were allegedly planning to travel to Turkey to meet with other Hamas operatives.
Israel is quick to forget, but not this much. Erdogan compared Israel's treatment of the Palestinians to how the Nazis treated the Jews; said the Israeli government was "following in Hitler's path," said that "filthy Zionists are polluting the Temple Mount," and has even declared himself the patron and protector of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Had Ankara rectified its ways since then, the matter would be different. But to this day, Erdogan refuses to define Hamas as a terrorist organization.
As such, Israel cannot trust another Turkish promise to prevent anti-Israeli activities from its soil. Been there, done that. For Jerusalem to even consider a reconciliation deal with Ankara, Erdogan must first close all Hamas offices in Turkey and deport senior members Husam Badran, Mousa al-Akari, Zaher Jabarin, Jihad Yaghmour, all of whom have Israeli blood on their hands.
This includes Hamas' "Construction Bureau," which has until recently operated from Istanbul, producing and upgrading weapons and rockets for Gaza, and, Turkey's donations to Hamas' military wing masked as a "charity" organization.
Israel must proceed with utmost caution with regard to Erdogan's courtship.
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