Re: Turkey, Let's Turn Up The Heat

I was surprised to read that it has already been two years since Turkey sent those faux human rights sic activists/agitators to Israel.  It seems like yesterday, ok, maybe six months ago.  Maybe that's because they and their teammates haven't let up on the media and diplomatic attacks on Israel.  They've also been repeating the lies about our "attack" on them to the point where they may even believe it.

Of course the facts are very different as the Israeli press try to point out on occasion, like in Ruthie Blum's latest article. 

The Turkish invasion is back in the news because the Turkish courts have indicted Israeli IDF officers.  Only Israelis can be charged for self-defense.  No other country gets this treatment.  PM Binyamin Netanyahu alluded to the outrageous charges by Turkey in his speech at at the annual conference of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv.

Israel’s hand extended in peace is not always responded to in kind by governments in the region, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Tuesday in a cryptic reference to the Turkish court’s decision the day before to indict four former senior IDF officers.

I don't understand why Bibi didn't spell it out and explain how anti-Israel Turkey really is!
Dan Margolit's Israel Hayom article makes it much clearer.

Israelis who asked Turks in private conversations why Erdogan was foaming at the mouth got the incredulous answer that the Mavi Marmara was the first time Turkish civilians had been killed since World War I, and that it was difficult for Ankara to come to terms with the incident, in which nine of its citizens were killed.
There is no logic to this argument. Mediators who have proposed resolutions to this crisis have been ignored. Each side blames the other. But the main issue is indisputable: The Turks demanded a commission of inquiry, and Israel hesitantly complied, but ultimately it was Turkey that rejected the committee's conclusions. After all, the commission, headed by Jeffery Palmer, concluded that Israel had a legal right to impose a blockade on the terrorist-infested Gaza Strip for the purposes of self defense.

There are always different rules for Israel, a different morality sic demanded.  The United States has put the blame on Israel too and keeps telling us to fix the relations with Turkey.

Speaking May 28 at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), Michèle Flournoy, a longtime adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama who retired in February after four years as undersecretary of defense for policy, urged Israel to reconcile with Turkey.

Insisting that Turkey shares Israeli and U.S. interests in preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear state, Flournoy said Turkey has emerged as one of the strongest and most influential countries in the region.
“If there was ever a time for Israel to rise above recriminations, now is the time,” Flournoy said. “Israel has to act strategically and try to rebuild its partnership with Turkey.”

We in Israel must remember that we don't have any true friends and allies. We can't trust other countries to care about our future or our defense, whether diplomatic or military.