ICEJ Special Commentary

Pivotal Moment for Israel

by David Parsons

15 September 2011

The month of September 2011 may well go down as one of the most pivotal moments in Israel's modern's history, as the entire Middle East is convulsing before our very eyes. 

September was already earmarked as a key date on the regional calendar due to the looming diplomatic showdown over Palestinian statehood at the United Nations. The Palestinian Authority has refused to back down from its reckless unilateral push for a state along the pre-1967 lines, and thus decided to take a very dangerous path given the volatile political climate in the region. The PA's official calls for mass marches on Israeli towns and checkpoints in support of this effort is already inviting chaos and bloodshed.   

But then suddenly last week, Israel's ambassadors in both Egypt and Turkey were unceremoniously chased from Cairo and Ankara within days of each other. Each nation is a regional power with long-standing security ties and shared concerns with Israel. Yet decades of prodigious efforts to forge close relations, often against the popular will of their peoples, may now be down the drain.

Only time will tell if this is indeed a rubicon moment for Israel, as the Palestinians sow the seeds of another intifada and strategic ties built up over many years with Egypt and Turkey now face the risk of being irreversibly severed. Even worse, the region could be slipping towards an unthinkable war.

The Islamist party ruling Turkey has been on a deliberate collision course with Israel for years now and finally found a pretext for breaking off its decades-long strategic alliance with Jerusalem over the Mavi Marmara flotilla raid last year.

Ankara has demanded an apology and compensation over the flotilla incident, as well as a complete lifting of the Gaza arms blockade. Israel has concluded that these demands are so excessive, it can only mean the Turks really do not want to reconcile.  

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has responded by suspending all military ties and government-related trade with Israel. The Israeli ambassador was given two days to pack and leave. More ominously, Erdogan has threatened to dispatch Turkish warships to escort aid convoys bound for Gaza.       

Israeli leader Binyamin Netanyahu has said he is determined to "lower the flames", but Erdogan turned up the rhetoric again by claiming this week that the Gaza flotilla incident was "grounds for war".      

Meanwhile, Israel is struggling to maintain its tenuous ties to the ruling military council in Cairo after a cross-border Palestinian terror attack near Eilat left five Egyptian troops dead in the ensuing IDF response. Angry Egyptian mobs kept storming the Israel embassy in Cairo before finally forcing Amb. Yitzhak Levanon to flee the country.  

The violent protests reflect the ingrained hostility among many Egyptians towards Israel, and it could prove difficult for Jerusalem to return to even the 'cold peace' with Cairo of the past three decades.

So for Israel, there are steep challenges all around: mend fences with Turkey and Egypt, navigate the volatile Arab uprisings, renew peace talks with an obstinate Palestinian leadership, and keep vigilant watch over the looming threat of a nuclear Iran.

The writer is an ordained minister and serves as media director for the
International Christian Embassy Jerusalem;   www.icej.org/