With the possibility of a US attack on Iran increasing, Israeli politicians are already turning their attention to another regional rival, Turkiye.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who ran in the country’s elections this year and is expected to do well, became the latest prominent politician to declare Turkiye a threat to Israel.
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Bennett said at a conference last week that Israel must not “turn a blind eye” to Turkiye, accusing it of being part of a regional axis “similar to Iran.”
“A new Turkish threat is emerging,” Bennett said. “We have to act in different ways, but at the same time we have to act against the threat from Tehran and the hostility of the Turkish government.”
Other Israeli politicians have made similar statements in recent months, with Turkiye strongly criticizing Israel’s actions against the Palestinians and its genocidal war in Gaza, and drawing closer to regional powers such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
This tone suggests that while the Iranian government remains in power in Tehran, Israel is already building a network of like-minded states around it and seeking new regional enemies.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared his intention to forge a new “hexagon” of alliances surrounding the so-called “emerging radical Sunnis,” while announcing the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Japan. [Muslim] and solidify Israel’s regional influence.
That alliance would also include countries such as Greece and Cyprus, which have historically been enemies of Turkiye.
According to former Israeli Ambassador Alon Pincus, the timing of the apparent operation against Turkiye may not be surprising, even if it coincides with the push for war against Iran.
“Politicians like Naftali Bennett and Benjamin Netanyahu rely on the constant threat of war,” Pincus told Al Jazeera. If it wasn’t Turkiye, it would be Iraq. If it wasn’t Iraq, it would be Hezbollah. If it’s not Hezbollah, it’s the Muslim Brotherhood. It doesn’t matter who you are. There just always has to be a threat. ”
Deterioration of relations
Israel has been in a heightened state of war since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023. Since then, Israel has carried out genocide in Gaza, invaded Lebanon, bombed Yemen, occupied parts of Syria, launched a war against regional power Iran, and recently, contrary to world opinion and international law, came close to annexing territory in the occupied West Bank.
Against this backdrop, analysts explained that there is talk of further threats, such as the threat from Tolkier, and that new alliances will be cast from the same mold. Despite being political rivals, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Prime Minister Bennett are right-wing Israelis who completely oppose a Palestinian state and share similar beliefs in promoting Israel’s regional hegemony.
“This is what Naftali Bennett has always advocated,” said political analyst Oli Goldberg.
“liberal [Israelis] For years they have projected their hopes onto Benjamin Netanyahu simply because he was his opponent. “That’s beside the point,” he said, referring to both men’s clear disdain for Palestinians. “He’s not even pretending right now. He’s trying to overtake Prime Minister Netanyahu from the right.”
But focusing on Turkiye as a threat is complicated by the decades-long relationship between the two countries and Turkiye’s status as a NATO member, while also being an understandable objective for the Israeli right, which wants to secure a new bogeyman.
Although Israel has been hostile to Iran since the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution, Israel’s relationship with Turkiye is more pragmatic, and historically Israel’s continued oppression of the Palestinians has often been an issue in negotiations rather than open threats that prompt aggressively hostile rhetoric.
However, since taking power in the early 2000s, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become increasingly critical of Israel.
Israel’s attack on a Gaza-bound convoy in 2010, which ultimately killed 10 Turkish activists, was one of the defining moments in the deterioration of relations, accompanied by heated political commentary and diplomatic downgrades.
Subsequent Israeli military operations in Gaza and Syria have further fueled public and government anger in Turkiye, the Turkish government has taken an increasingly confrontational stance against Israel’s genocide and territorial ambitions, bilateral relations remain tense, and suggestions of Turkiye involvement in Gaza’s proposed Interim Security Force have become politically detrimental to Israel.
But beyond the clear opposition to Israel, analysts say comparisons between Ankara and Tehran border on comical.
“Israel has cooperated with Turkiye many times,” Pincus said. “It wasn’t that long ago that Israeli politicians were talking about the Middle East being overseen by two superpowers, Israel and Turkiye, who oppose Iran. And now they’re trying to replace Iran with Turkiye? What are they talking about, armed conflict? Turkiye is a NATO power.”
Pincus pointed out further differences. “Has the Turkiye leadership ever denied Israel’s right to exist or threatened to erase it from the map?” he asked.
“No,” he said. “That’s ridiculous.”
hexagonal alliance
While the alliance with the United States ultimately provides Israel with its greatest protection, Israel has also sought to expand its network.
Prime Minister Netanyahu explained that at the forefront of this will be the support of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and what he described as a “hexagon” of allies, including India, the aforementioned Greece, Cyprus, and various unspecified Arab, African, and Asian countries.
“The intention here is to build a national axis that takes a hard look at the reality, the challenges and the goals, as opposed to the radical axis, both the radical Shiite axis, which we have harshly attacked, and the emerging radical Sunni axis,” Netanyahu said, without specifying which “radical” states he was referring to.
Prime Minister Netanyahu stressed that his proposed new hexagonal alliance would complement, not replace, Israel’s typical dependence on the United States. But some believe that Tel Aviv now needs to avoid risks, as support for Israel has become politically toxic in the United States.
Political analyst Goldberg called Netanyahu’s move “desperate.”
“All of this is because we burned through our past alliances with Russia and now with the United States. 1771874303 “India is claiming to be leading this hexagon of ‘moderate states.’ Even the most deluded Israeli public does not believe that Israel can still be a moderate state,” Goldberg said.
And talk of the Turkish threat and the Six-Party Alliance is evidence that Israel is not at the center of U.S. decision-making for an attack on Iran, said Chatham House expert Yossi Mekelberg.
“It’s all bias. There’s no honesty, and the situation is only going to get worse,” Mekelberg said of Netanyahu’s framing of the situation. “The big problem is Iran. [That is] “What are they interested in? Tolkie is just noise.”
Mekelberg warned that while the aim may be to distract attention by talking about the Turkish threat, there are still risks.
“Most leaders, at least evil leaders, are able to distinguish between rhetoric and reality, so there’s really no chance of one spilling over into the other,” he says. “The risk is that as Israel intensifies its rhetoric against Turkiye, it could turn Turkiye into a real adversary.”
