Israel is entering “very challenging days or months” in its relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Dr. Edy Cohen, Channel 14’s Arab affairs analyst, warned Sunday in an interview with Sara Beck.
1+According to Cohen, with Iran’s weakening, Israel and Turkey have become the two central powers in the Middle East—but their interests are increasingly clashing. While Israel maintains alliances and cooperation with Greece and Cyprus, Turkey is working to expand its regional influence and trying to build its own axis with other countries. Cohen argued that the roots of the confrontation also lie in Erdoğan’s ideology, his ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, and Ankara’s relationship with Hamas. He emphasized that Turkey’s status as a NATO member and its influence in Europe and the Middle East give it significant political power and make it harder for Israel to deal with.
1+In this context, Cohen also pointed to the American arena. According to him, Erdoğan currently enjoys backing from elements within the Trump administration, so Israel will need to invest diplomatic effort with Washington and clarify the risks it identifies in a Turkish entrenchment in Syria. According to Cohen, Israel’s main challenge in the coming period will be to prevent hostile entrenchment in Syria while simultaneously working with the United States to block Turkish moves that could harm its security interests.