Latest / FDD Morning Brief / The Israel-Turkey collision course | feat. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak

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The Israel-Turkey collision course | feat. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak · FDD Morning Brief

0:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Good morning, it's Friday, August 28th, the multi-front war in the Middle East is now 1,056 days old, but hey, who's counting?
0:20
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm your host Jonathan Shanzer, welcome back to the FDD Morning Brief.
0:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Qatar's Prime Minister visited Tehran yesterday and a bid to revive diplomacy amidst the latest wave of
0:36
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is a war that's being waged by the United States, of course.
0:39
[SPEAKER_00]: But here's what should be puzzling.
0:41
[SPEAKER_00]: The Qataris have been bombed every which way, but Yomal Ahad since this conflict began.
0:47
[SPEAKER_00]: You think that the Qataris would just want to sit back, open a bag of halal popcorn, and let the sanctions bite.
0:53
[SPEAKER_00]: But no, America's most duplicitous ally in the Persian Gulf is out there trying to find an off-ramp for the regime that bomb them just as it is about to be clobbered.
1:03
[SPEAKER_00]: Let that sink in and then remember it the next time someone tells you that the Qataris are really just terrific allies but misunderstood.
1:13
[SPEAKER_00]: economic day or what we are now calling operation economic outcast is now fully underway and while I don't think there is anything particularly new or innovative as far as sanctions go, I'm actually somewhat sanguine about what we're doing.
1:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Here's why.
1:27
[SPEAKER_00]: First, I liked that the Trump administration is given up on the terrible MOU brokered by Vice President J.D.
1:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Vance, the government of Qatar and the government of Pakistan.
1:36
[SPEAKER_00]: it was a memorandum of capitulation, and it should never have seen the light of day.
1:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Even if we are in a tight spot with oil or munitions, that doesn't mean we should ever have yielded to the world's foremost state sponsor of terrorism.
1:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Another thing I like about this new campaign, it forces our allies and adversaries alike to finally adhere to the sanctions we have had in place for years.
1:57
[SPEAKER_00]: They just didn't want to enforce those sanctions, and one administration after the next allowed this to take place.
2:03
[SPEAKER_00]: No longer, my friends.
2:04
[SPEAKER_00]: everyone needs to get on board now.
2:06
[SPEAKER_00]: That includes the Emirates, the Turks, the Iraqis, and yes, even the Chinese.
2:10
[SPEAKER_00]: But perhaps most importantly, it looks like we have a strategy.
2:14
[SPEAKER_00]: The president stated what it was up front, and now we are executing on it.
2:18
[SPEAKER_00]: It shouldn't be remarkable, but it clearly articulated strategy as rare these days.
2:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Americans like it, when we understand what our government is doing, our allies like that too.
2:28
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know what we all
2:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Now for your headline, headline one, Kuwait and Pakistan signed a military cooperation agreement yesterday, building on a deal signed in 2023, under the extended agreement, Pakistan will help Kuwait with training capacity building and border management.
2:47
[SPEAKER_00]: The agreement was signed sealed and delivered during a visit by Kuwait's defense minister of Pakistan.
2:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Countess is the latest attempt by goal states to deter Iranian integration
3:01
[SPEAKER_00]: count on Pakistan rushing to the aid of Kuwait if the Iranian missiles start flying again and also just watch this space.
3:08
[SPEAKER_00]: So any state seemed to be gravitating toward a broader alliance.
3:11
[SPEAKER_00]: This has potential implications for more regional tumult as much as it might deter the
3:20
[SPEAKER_00]: headline 2, the IDF is poised to surge troops into West Bank as violence over there continues to escalate.
3:26
[SPEAKER_00]: IDF chief of staff general or rather, yes, the chief of staff general, A.L.s.
3:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Amir ordered an additional division to be on standby, which could mean the potential influx.
3:35
[SPEAKER_00]: of thousands of Israeli troops into Judea and Samaria.
3:39
[SPEAKER_00]: Samira also asked the Israeli treasury to boost funding for the IDF as attack ulcerats on several fronts.
3:45
[SPEAKER_00]: The Israelis are already pretty deep in it financially and now they're on high alert as right-wing nutballs continue to carry out extra judicial violence in the disputed territory.
3:56
[SPEAKER_00]: And that could provoke Palestinian reprisals.
3:59
[SPEAKER_00]: They're also on high alert because the Jewish holiday season is fast approaching.
4:04
[SPEAKER_00]: where psychotic Palestinian terrorists try to inflict more pain on the Jewish state.
4:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Lovely.
4:09
[SPEAKER_00]: No.
4:10
[SPEAKER_00]: And line three, Iranians this week rush to stock up on fuel and food and anticipation of supply shortages, gas stations across Iran faced crazy long lines, some shutdown before meeting demand.
4:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Protests are popping up now across the country.
4:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Iranians are angry justifiably at the rising cost of living and the regime's total mismanagement of the economy.
4:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Operation economic outcast is already taken a fight.
4:35
[SPEAKER_00]: The big question now is whether the people begin to organize and if they do, it'll be up to the United States, Israel and perhaps other allies to make sure that these people get exactly what they need.
4:45
[SPEAKER_00]: You know the drill.
4:46
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a mantra from us here at FDD and we will continue to say it.
4:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Maximum pressure on the Iranian regime.
4:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Maximum support for the Iranian people.
4:55
[SPEAKER_00]: There.
4:56
[SPEAKER_00]: I said it again.
4:57
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, it's now time for our main event.
4:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Today's guest is Hayatankoan Yanarojok.
5:02
[SPEAKER_00]: He is an author and researcher at Tel Aviv University's Mochid Dayan Center.
5:07
[SPEAKER_00]: He's also one of the sharpest minds on everything related to Turkey, with Turkey and Israel on a collision course that has not really been derailed yet and with Syria caught up in the middle.
5:16
[SPEAKER_00]: There is a lot to unpack, so without further ado, let's welcome Hayatankoan Yanarojok onto the show.
5:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to the FTD morning brief, Hi, A-Tan Cohen, and I will chuck.
5:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you very much for heading me, Jonathan.
5:34
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a pleasure.
5:35
[SPEAKER_00]: And now, practice saying your name like four times in a row.
5:38
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm thinking I'm getting the handle on it.
5:40
[SPEAKER_00]: You'll have to let me know whether I've gotten, whether it's now under my belt.
5:43
[SPEAKER_01]: Practice makes perfection.
5:45
[SPEAKER_00]: New thumbs up.
5:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Wow.
5:46
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, good.
5:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Not the only one.
5:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, okay.
5:49
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
5:50
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's start with this.
5:51
[SPEAKER_00]: What happened in Syria last week?
5:53
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we're hearing the Israeli version, we're hearing the Turkish version, we're hearing the Ambassador Tom Barrack version, which I think we can all probably discount at this point.
6:03
[SPEAKER_00]: But so what is the narrative from your perspective that is truthful about what happened on that in that north-east northwestern base of Syria?
6:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Sure.
6:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, we can definitely say that this is a continuation of last year's policy, also in April 2025, we saw that these really air forces conducted a similar operation in Central Syria.
6:29
[SPEAKER_01]: These really jets them bombs, T for Hama and Homes' air fields.
6:36
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, by the way, not just very large.
6:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Sir, just in a rub for just for so folks understand T4 was once a base that was controlled by the Iranian regime that in the Israeli stock multiple times because of concerns that they were using that base as well with enemy intent, let's say.
6:54
[SPEAKER_00]: So now the Israelis were doing the same thing last year, okay, it's already in a rub, go ahead.
6:59
[SPEAKER_01]: No problem.
7:00
[SPEAKER_01]: So, we are seeing that a more or less the same pattern now was implemented this time for Aldohul, air base, which is located this time not in central Syria, but rather in the idlib province, which is located in north western Syria.
7:18
[SPEAKER_01]: And in my opinion, this is far more ambitious for Israel because when I'm looking at the map,
7:25
[SPEAKER_01]: I must admit that prior to this airstruck, I thought that that area could be considered as a natural Turkish influence zone.
7:34
[SPEAKER_01]: But what we are seeing here with this airstruck is rail is saying something even more meaningful and more deep.
7:43
[SPEAKER_01]: Israel even is not tolerating any further Turkish deployment.
7:49
[SPEAKER_01]: even within the area, the so-called area called the Turkish influence zone.
7:55
[SPEAKER_01]: And this is the new, in my opinion, this is the most important headline of this particular airstrike.
8:02
[SPEAKER_01]: And these really press is also quoting the Israeli prime minister that he, of course, via his officials convey the message first to Syrians and then to the Turks.
8:16
[SPEAKER_01]: When his message was not acknowledged, I mean, I'm quoting, according to Prime Minister Netanyahu's verse, then he decided to speak in Middle Eastern dialect, which is Bombardic.
8:30
[SPEAKER_01]: And this is also very crucial, because
8:34
[SPEAKER_01]: we have to focus on the bottom line, not Turkish troops were killed, a message was delivered, and there is a clear red line, and Israel is standing next to it's red line, and this is very good for Israeli deterrence.
8:51
[SPEAKER_01]: It's really something more and more and more predictable, and this is a good
8:57
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that's good and I think the messaging is consistent.
9:00
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, two quick thoughts.
9:01
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, number one, this idlib province is at least as I understand it.
9:06
[SPEAKER_00]: It is one of the paths through which the Israeli Air Force will take when it makes bombing raids on Iran.
9:14
[SPEAKER_00]: So they don't want Turkish assets there.
9:18
[SPEAKER_00]: And certainly they don't want radar and they don't want air defense.
9:20
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think this is, I believe now this explains at least some of what's going on here.
9:26
[SPEAKER_00]: I think just having any Turkish assets in Syria is also a bigger problem.
9:30
[SPEAKER_00]: I do have to note though, and I've noted it here on this program, it's a bit odd if the Turks are saying that they didn't, they weren't doing any of this.
9:40
[SPEAKER_00]: And these rallies bombed this airfield.
9:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Why would then the Turks be angry?
9:45
[SPEAKER_00]: In other words, if they weren't there and they didn't have plans to put any assets there, then why would this even matter to them and why would the ambassador to Turkey from the United States need to weigh in on their behalf?
9:58
[SPEAKER_00]: In other words, the messaging out of Turkey seems a bit odd.
10:01
[SPEAKER_00]: So, I mean, if you would, I mean, I know you speak Turkish and you're watching the Turkish press, what has been like, what is the regime saying right now?
10:11
[SPEAKER_00]: And is there narrative, I mean, believable?
10:15
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, first of all, I would like to underline that right after the air strike.
10:21
[SPEAKER_01]: I found a very short video.
10:25
[SPEAKER_01]: I shoot a short video on the Turkish social media that was taken by a Syrian soldier who spoke fluent Turkish and as far as I understand from his accent.
10:37
[SPEAKER_01]: I can definitely say that he's a Turk.
10:39
[SPEAKER_01]: And he clearly underlined and highlighted that the Israelis, through their drones and intelligence, they could understand that there is an existence of the Turkish troops in the base.
10:53
[SPEAKER_01]: And then I'm very happy about it that no Turkish casualties were reported, and then Israel conducted this preemptive strike in order not to allow the Turkish deployment
11:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Right after the bombardment we can say, we saw a very, let me say, kind of called condemnation from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, I think this is more or less an automatic reaction.
11:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Whatever Israel does in the region, they are publishing an automatic condemnation, so it's not surprising at all, but when is really prime ministers of this?
11:37
[SPEAKER_01]: underline and highlighted that the Turkish deployment in even an idlib province is considered as a threat for the Israeli national interests.
11:51
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, only after that message.
11:54
[SPEAKER_01]: the director of communications of Turkey, they this time delivered a more harsh statement against Israel.
12:08
[SPEAKER_01]: And then they rejected the Israeli thesis of the fact that the Turkish troops decided to
12:22
[SPEAKER_01]: rejecting it because obviously it is causing a huge damage for their national pride and for their whole deterrence.
12:32
[SPEAKER_01]: It means that Israel was not deterred and Israel took this action.
12:38
[SPEAKER_01]: as Tom Barrack said, maybe we were very close to a real confrontation.
12:44
[SPEAKER_01]: So by conducting such an act, Israel also made it clear that it is not deterred with this kind of a scenario, but let me tell you, this is something very unwanted by Jerusalem.
13:00
[SPEAKER_01]: Israel does not want to confront with Turkey.
13:04
[SPEAKER_01]: And I really want to make it very clear also for our Turkish audience.
13:10
[SPEAKER_01]: I assume that we will have some Turkish audience here.
13:13
[SPEAKER_01]: That...
13:14
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't like us very much, but that's okay.
13:16
[SPEAKER_00]: That's you.
13:17
[SPEAKER_00]: I think they still watch.
13:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, they watch.
13:20
[SPEAKER_01]: But we love them.
13:21
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I love them.
13:22
[SPEAKER_01]: I cannot speak on your name.
13:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Ah, the Turkish people are tremendous.
13:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe this government is not so much, but yet.
13:30
[SPEAKER_01]: Anyways, so I would like to highlight here that this particular air strike was conducted to keep Turkey distant from Israel's borders so that there will be no future friction and military confrontation between Israel and Turkey.
13:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so now here's the question that I have then because I understand what the intent was.
13:54
[SPEAKER_00]: I understand why the Israelis attacked.
13:56
[SPEAKER_00]: I understand what the message was to Turkey.
13:58
[SPEAKER_00]: But when you look around the region right now, the Turks have military positions.
14:05
[SPEAKER_00]: in lots of places that we could consider to be potential threats to be Israelis.
14:12
[SPEAKER_00]: I think when I think about what's going on in the Persian Gulf, what's happening in Iraq, in Syria, even in Lebanon, a little bit, Gaza,
14:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Horn of Africa, Libya, even Egypt a little bit, we could say, I mean, tell us a little bit about what the Turkish military is conveying when it continues to move throughout the region.
14:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Is this, I mean, maybe, let me frame it this way.
14:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Is this an attempt to encircle Israel?
14:44
[SPEAKER_00]: the way that the Iranians did on the eve of October 7th and we had watched that for years.
14:49
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is a lot of what the Israelis are pushing back on, right?
14:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Or is it just the way of trying to project power across the region?
14:56
[SPEAKER_00]: This Neil Ottoman idea that Erdogan has that he wants to be the new sultan.
15:01
[SPEAKER_00]: And that means that he just needs to have a bigger presence everywhere in the Middle East.
15:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Or is it a combination of those things?
15:07
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, how do we interpret all of these very, well, aggressive deployments by the Turkish military?
15:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I can tell you that it's a combination.
15:17
[SPEAKER_01]: And this is a part of the Turkish nail-automalist idea.
15:23
[SPEAKER_01]: The Turkey would like to convey a message to the whole Middle East.
15:27
[SPEAKER_01]: That the Middle East is coming to its factory settings, of course, from their own perspective, since they ruled all of these areas for 411 years.
15:38
[SPEAKER_00]: I like that term factory settings.
15:39
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a, yeah, you know, of course.
15:46
[SPEAKER_01]: I just wanted to provide you this kind of a world view via Turkish point of view.
15:55
[SPEAKER_01]: And you also mentioned about the Iranian Modus operandi, right?
16:00
[SPEAKER_01]: We witnessed that for years Iran used many different terrorist organizations as rings of fire around Israel.
16:09
[SPEAKER_01]: But now what we are seeing is something very different.
16:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Turkey is forging alliances with legitimate nation states that are all recognized by international law and also United Nations.
16:23
[SPEAKER_01]: So once a Turkish decision maker would be challenged with this kind of a question, he would most likely will tell you this sentence.
16:33
[SPEAKER_01]: What do you want from us?
16:34
[SPEAKER_01]: We only want to have prosperous relationship with our neighbors.
16:38
[SPEAKER_01]: And we would like to deepen our neighbor, live relations with Syria, with Iraq, and with Egypt, and it's September, right?
16:47
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's why we are seeing the Mecca agreement.
16:50
[SPEAKER_01]: That's why we already witnessed the neighbors of Syria initiative that was launched last year, March.
16:57
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm very much amazed that nobody speaks about it.
17:01
[SPEAKER_01]: In my opinion, this neighbors of Syria initiative, which was composed of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq,
17:11
[SPEAKER_01]: most likely in the near future these states will get new invitations to be a part of this mega agreement.
17:19
[SPEAKER_01]: And once they will join this agreement and of course you look at the map.
17:25
[SPEAKER_01]: What is your conclusion here?
17:28
[SPEAKER_01]: From it is really point of view.
17:30
[SPEAKER_01]: In North we have Lebanon, President Erdoğan already said his desire to station troops in Lebanon.
17:38
[SPEAKER_01]: He said that
17:40
[SPEAKER_01]: More or less.
17:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Love any stone love this?
17:42
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I mean, I say it's not welcome.
17:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
17:46
[SPEAKER_01]: But still, did he mention his desire?
17:48
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, he did.
17:50
[SPEAKER_01]: He is not hiding his desire to go to the South in Syria.
17:56
[SPEAKER_01]: And recently, because of this Mecca agreement, only a few days ago, I saw a very interesting map in social media that Turkey will going to station
18:10
[SPEAKER_01]: in Saudi Arabia, in the city of Tabuk, which is more or less 200 kilometers away from the Jordanian border, roughly speaking, 250 kilometers from the Israeli border, let's say.
18:24
[SPEAKER_01]: And also another base called UpHour, which is in the vicinity of Yemen, and also the capital city rea.
18:31
[SPEAKER_01]: And they already
18:39
[SPEAKER_01]: So, many people are laughing at make a agreement, as if it is not deterring the Houthis and et cetera, but let me tell you, make no mistake.
18:50
[SPEAKER_01]: This agreement was not signed to stop the Hufis.
18:56
[SPEAKER_01]: No, it was this was deterrence toward Iran, but I must say it is even from even from the Turkish perspective, this was designed to to contain Israel, okay?
19:09
[SPEAKER_01]: And maybe if you have a, well, that is from the Saudi eyes, it is, it is designed for Iran.
19:15
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, yeah, for about a year, it seems India, but for orthodox, it's definitely for Israel.
19:20
[SPEAKER_00]: No doubt.
19:21
[SPEAKER_00]: No doubt.
19:22
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's also, by the way, when they come there, they're also competing against the Greeks, who have also air defenses in Saudi Arabia recently shot down some missiles.
19:31
[SPEAKER_00]: So what they're trying to do is they're trying to take power out of the hands of the Israelis and the Greeks.
19:37
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is, I think, part of the overall vision, but I think Israel's right to look at this, these are deployments around the region.
19:45
[SPEAKER_00]: The Turks are trying to change the neighborhood.
19:49
[SPEAKER_00]: That is what they're trying to do.
19:50
[SPEAKER_00]: By the way, these really are trying to change the neighborhood.
19:53
[SPEAKER_00]: The Americans are trying to change the neighborhood.
19:55
[SPEAKER_00]: This is what happens what ore breaks out.
19:57
[SPEAKER_00]: There's vacuums and right now you see a lot of different players trying to fill it.
20:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Each one with their own vision for the region and the Turks clearly have a vision and that makes me nervous.
20:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Now I want to ask you about something else so because it's important we bring this into the picture.
20:14
[SPEAKER_00]: There's also the question of Hamas and Gaza.
20:18
[SPEAKER_00]: And we have this new board of peace plan that would disarm and dismantle Hamas on the one side.
20:25
[SPEAKER_00]: On the other side, you've got the Turks still hosting Hamas in Istanbul, taking official meetings, rolling out the red carpet, allowing them to operate financially, politically, maybe even militarily out of that country.
20:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Are they on the right side of the board of fees, the Turks, or are they on the wrong side of it?
20:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Because tarp for me to tell where they are, it sort of seems like they've got a foot in both camps.
20:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Am I wrong?
20:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, if we could have this conversation too decade ago, I could be the most happy man on this world that to see the terms would be deployed in Gaza or anywhere else, right?
21:05
[SPEAKER_01]: But since we are seeing today's current Turkish administration unfortunately, we cannot say that they are on the right side of the board of peace.
21:16
[SPEAKER_01]: I really do not think that they would be, they would be eager to dismantle Hamas.
21:23
[SPEAKER_01]: On contrary, on every occasion, they are legitimizing Hamas.
21:27
[SPEAKER_01]: They are providing them, as you said, red carpets and everything, and they are hosting them.
21:33
[SPEAKER_01]: And they are hosting them, even with the pretext of facilitating the hostage deals, right?
21:44
[SPEAKER_01]: and in this framework, some of the Hamas terrorists who were convicted, right?
21:52
[SPEAKER_00]: This is how the Hamas headquarters in Turkey was created.
21:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Seriously, it was the Gilad Chalid swap.
21:58
[SPEAKER_00]: There was for those
22:03
[SPEAKER_00]: traded for one Israeli, and I think several hundred, if I'm not mistaken, traveled to Turkey and they created a base there.
22:11
[SPEAKER_00]: These are people that had blood on their hands, some that actually committed murders of Israeli soldiers and citizens.
22:19
[SPEAKER_00]: But the financial operations now, and the sheer number of Hamas guys that are operating there, look, if Hamas leaves Gaza, if they are actually
22:31
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know about you, but I believe that Turkey could end up being the major headquarters for Hamas.
22:39
[SPEAKER_01]: definitely.
22:40
[SPEAKER_01]: I agree with you and I also would like to strengthen your words recently.
22:44
[SPEAKER_01]: This is really defense forces in the Shinbet and made it clear with their official statements that five Hamas operatives are conducting terrorist activities within the boundaries of Turkey.
22:56
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, yeah, which is not new.
22:58
[SPEAKER_01]: None of this is not new, but you know, from my perspective, it is very new that the Israeli defense forces is coming up.
23:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
23:06
[SPEAKER_00]: And making an official, but here's the thing.
23:09
[SPEAKER_00]: And so let's talk about that.
23:10
[SPEAKER_00]: But I mean, you know, I remember the 2014 war, right?
23:14
[SPEAKER_00]: We all remember that was sparked by the triple murder of three teens in Judea and Samaria on the West Bank.
23:20
[SPEAKER_00]: And it turns out that it was a guy.
23:22
[SPEAKER_00]: His name was Sala Hala Rory.
23:24
[SPEAKER_00]: He was the number, I don't know, three or number four within Hamas.
23:28
[SPEAKER_00]: He was based in Turkey, and when the war ended, right, it was a 50 day war, whatever it was, 51 days, I think, and he came out afterwards in Istanbul, and he stood up in front of a thousand people, and he announced that he had planned and financed the murder of those three teams, which is what set off the war between Hamas and Israel.
23:49
[SPEAKER_00]: He said it in front of the deputy prime minister of Turkey said it in front of all these clerics and top figures and politicians and members of parliament and they gave him a standing ovation.
23:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, they clapped for minutes on their feet.
24:03
[SPEAKER_00]: This was to me the sign, this is more than 10 years ago.
24:08
[SPEAKER_00]: So why is it that Israel kept quiet for as long as it did?
24:12
[SPEAKER_00]: We saw over and over again that Hamas was operating there that they were actually carrying out a planning attacks and financing attacks.
24:21
[SPEAKER_00]: And this was a key node for Hamas worldwide.
24:25
[SPEAKER_00]: And now, all the sudden, we're starting to see a change in rhetoric, right?
24:30
[SPEAKER_00]: The change in rhetoric, I think is actually fairly sharp on the part of Israel.
24:34
[SPEAKER_00]: I understand Israel doesn't want more enemies.
24:36
[SPEAKER_00]: I know they've got plenty, and it's like if you want to be an enemy of Israel, you have to get in line, because there's eight other people in front of you that are already fighting Israel.
24:45
[SPEAKER_00]: So get in line, right?
24:46
[SPEAKER_00]: But this does seem like a late response by the Israelis.
24:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Am I wrong?
24:51
[SPEAKER_01]: No, you're in wrong.
24:53
[SPEAKER_01]: Israel did everything possible in order not to declare Turkey even as an opponent, okay?
24:59
[SPEAKER_01]: So, Israel did not want to make these kind of statements in public.
25:08
[SPEAKER_01]: All of these warnings and statements were conveyed to the Turkish sides behind the scenes because Israel still believed that there could be a
25:21
[SPEAKER_01]: only a month before October the 7th in September.
25:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the Turkish President Erdogan in New York City, you know, for the United Nations.
25:35
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay?
25:36
[SPEAKER_01]: So,
25:39
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, although, say, I recall, and nobody talks about this, but the Israelis stopped a large naval maritime shipment of explosives.
25:50
[SPEAKER_00]: They found a shipment.
25:52
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to say it was in the port of Ashdode, where there were hundreds of kilos of explosives that were on a Turkish ship that was supposed to be delivering aid to Gaza.
26:04
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, this I think was possibly a sign that the Turks maybe even knew what was going to happen on October 7th that they may have been trying to arm up Hamas in advance of what was going to come according to some according to some leakages in Turkey at the same day there was a Hamas delegation in the Turkish intelligence headquarters and according to the these leakages the Hamas delegation was
26:32
[SPEAKER_01]: because of their irresponsibility, and as far as I understand the Turkish side, did not know about the October the 7th.
26:41
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of you think it's a standard of meekages.
26:43
[SPEAKER_00]: If it got through, they probably would have had a meeting where they would have been congratulated, but because they got caught, I think they got scolded.
26:50
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that probably sums up the problem with Turkey.
26:55
[SPEAKER_00]: We need to leave it here.
26:57
[SPEAKER_00]: This has been a really fascinating conversation.
26:59
[SPEAKER_00]: I think a lot of new odds that we haven't really touched on here before.
27:02
[SPEAKER_00]: So I want to thank you.
27:03
[SPEAKER_01]: Kai, Aetan, Cohen, Narrow.
27:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, Narrow, Jock.
27:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, got it.
27:07
[SPEAKER_01]: You're still.
27:08
[SPEAKER_01]: No, it's your perfect practice.
27:09
[SPEAKER_00]: It's really under my belly.
27:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, anyway.
27:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, thank you.
27:12
[SPEAKER_00]: You're right.
27:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, on the end of the stream right.
27:14
[SPEAKER_01]: You're very much for this distinguished platform.
27:16
[SPEAKER_01]: I wish you all the best and hope to see you here in Israel soon.
27:20
[SPEAKER_01]: All the best.
27:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.
27:25
[SPEAKER_00]: Alright, some new details there, I'm gonna have to unpack some of that.
27:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, that's a wrap on this year long week, but have no fear.
27:32
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll see you in 72 hours.
27:33
[SPEAKER_00]: I know you can't wait.
27:34
[SPEAKER_00]: If you want to feed your noggin with foreign policy smartness between now and then I certainly suggest that you head on over to fd.org for the latest from our experts or take a leisurely scroll through our social feeds.
27:46
[SPEAKER_00]: If that doesn't scratch the edge and yes, if you're feeling generous, you really should swing
27:55
[SPEAKER_00]: That keeps us jogging along and we couldn't be more grateful when we received those donations.
28:00
[SPEAKER_00]: And with that time to shut this thing down for the weekend, I hope it's a weekend for me, not convinced it will be, but, you know, with fingers crossed, I'm Jonathan Schanzer, as always, signing off for FD.