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Relations betwixt Israel and Turkey are astatine their lowest point. Since their rupture successful 2010, they person gone done respective ups and downs, but they person not been restored – not adjacent partially. There person been attempts successful the past, culminating successful Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s telephone apology to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan successful 2013 for errors that led to the decease of 9 Turkish nationals successful 2010 successful the Gaza flotilla incident. There was besides a gathering betwixt the two leaders successful September 2023 successful New York, a fewer days earlier the Hamas terrorist onslaught against Israel, but they were unsuccessful.
Israel had already assessed since 2010 that Turkey’s displacement toward governmental Islam, its cultivated ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, the very bully level of understanding with Iran connected the issues of Syria and beyond, arsenic well arsenic the underground links betwixt Turkey and Qatar that reached Hamas were definitive, and rendered Ankara a problematic partner. In fact, the Turkish president’s effort to task himself arsenic the main spokesperson for the Palestinian positions, and a defender of the Muslim world (with his attacks connected China implicit the Uyghurs, connected Russia implicit the Tatars and connected Europe implicit Islamophobia), became, implicit time, inherent successful Turkish overseas policy.
Of course, adjacent during the years of the heavy situation successful bilateral relations, trade betwixt the two countries was maintained astatine precocious levels and adjacent showed an upward trend for a play of time, while concern circles successful Israel urged the authorities to export earthy state done Turkey, adjacent if that meant that the positions of the Republic of Cyprus connected maritime zones and the delimitation statement signed by Nicosia and Tel Aviv arsenic aboriginal arsenic 2010 would beryllium ignored. It is true that portion of the Israeli Foreign Ministry constitution identified Erdogan arsenic the main, if not the only, occupation successful bilateral relations, looking guardant to a alteration of enactment for them to beryllium normalized.
However, Erdogan’s utmost rhetoric has surely imbued a ample portion of Turkish society with akin views connected Israel, something that is confirmed successful each nationalist sentiment polls, with an overwhelming 93% of Turks having a antagonistic view of Israel (the highest percent of immoderate state successful the world). Of course, astir countries widely disapprove of the decisions of the existent Israeli government, adjacent the United States and Germany, but successful the lawsuit of Turkey this cognition has been stable and taken basal implicit galore years, which is mostly attributed to Erdogan’s determination to demonize Israel, successful his effort to go the ultimate notation constituent for Muslims. In a canvass successful October 2024, 89.4% of Turks believed that Israel had territorial ambitions toward their country, and successful March 2025, 83.5% placed Israel astatine the top of the database of force states.
In Israel, too, the public’s view of Turkey is nary better: In December 2025, successful a related poll, lone 13% of Israelis considered Turkey a reliable partner, with the vast bulk considering it a competitory force. In the eyes of galore Israelis and portion of the governmental elite, Erdogan’s Turkey is evolving into a 2nd Iran. Netanyahu’s large governmental opponent, Naftali Bennett, who is starring successful astir polls up of the elections to beryllium held successful 2026, believes that Turkey is portion of an anti-Zionist axis akin to the Iranian one, that “a caller Turkish menace is emerging,” and that Israel “must enactment successful antithetic ways, but simultaneously against the menace from Tehran and against the hostility from Ankara.”
Some analysts, however, judge that the two Israeli politicians are investing successful fear, so targeting Turkey is convenient. Still, the Tel Aviv-Ankara confrontation is not lone personal, but besides concerns a clash betwixt their communal ambition for determination hegemony, which is intelligibly visible connected various fronts, such arsenic Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean, and adjacent the Aegean, where galore Turkish commentators, astir apt projecting the authoritative position, spot an effort by Israel to surround them, utilizing Greece and Cyprus arsenic its proxies. The anticipation of an equipped struggle betwixt Israel and Turkey should beryllium ruled out, since the second is simply a NATO member-state, however, whenever Tel Aviv is fixed the accidental to nonstop an emphatic connection – arsenic it did successful the caller past by striking Turkish subject bases successful Syria – it will repetition it.
It is estimated, however, that the harm astatine the societal level is besides great. Israeli Jews person – besides for information reasons – excluded Turkey from their tourist destinations, with a high-ranking Israeli diplomat telling maine precocious that “Turkey went from being a privileged destination for economical cooperation, tourism, and adjacent aesculapian tourism, to being a synonym of ‘stay away.’” As a result, there has been a important transfer of concern superior from Turkey to Greece and Cyprus.
The elections successful Israel are not expected to dramatically alteration the way relations with Turkey are approached. Much will beryllium connected the stance of the United States and whether it will want to unit the two countries to trim tensions. In the information architecture being formed successful the region, the agendas of Israel and Turkey, arsenic they presently stand, bash not “meet.”
Constantinos Filis is an subordinate prof astatine the American College of Greece and manager of its Institute of Global Affairs.
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