By Gwen Ackerman, Bloomberg,
Israel’s figurehead president has become an unlikely star on the country’s diplomatic stage, where he’s playing a dominant role in efforts to repair strained ties with once-close ally Turkey.
Since Isaac Herzog took office in July, he’s secretly visited Jordan to meet with King Abdullah II, spoken with Xi Jinping in the first-ever phone call between Chinese and Israeli presidents, visited the U.K. and Ukraine, and traveled to the United Arab Emirates in a tour showcasing Israel’s new ties with the Gulf nation.
But it is his bonding with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that’s been most striking. They’ve spoken four times, and Erdogan will host the onetime Israeli Labor party leader and prime ministerial hopeful in Ankara next month.
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“What is important is that he is on all fronts and is leading the effort to improve ties with Israel’s currently estranged, most strategic ally in the region,” said Yigal Palmor, a former Foreign Ministry spokesman and top adviser to Herzog when he headed the Jewish Agency, which fosters ties between Israel and the Jewish diaspora.
Turkey represents “a very powerful, very influential factor in the region,” whose border with Iran and presence in Syria make it strategically important, Palmor said. “Not to mention that they are an important regional crossroad in terms of energy.”
While Israel’s presidency is a ceremonial, apolitical position, Herzog’s decades in politics and the diplomatic mileage he’s clocked over the years have given him experience that is rare in the current Israeli government. It’s also sought after by Israel’s top leaders, with whom he is coordinating.
Broader Strategy
Turkey’s attempt at rapprochement with Israel is part of a broader strategy to mend relations with alienated allies as its own economy founders. It could help to improve Ankara’s relations with the U.S., where Herzog’s brother is Israel’s ambassador.
But it’s the potential for lucrative energy deals that may be the biggest draw. In January Erdogan said talks were underway with Israeli leaders on building an undersea natural gas pipeline between the Israel and Turkey — a project that’s gotten a recent push from the U.S.
“Changing security relations in the region and the energy crisis in Europe are a good opportunity for Turkey and Israel,” Umud Shokri, author of “U.S. Energy Diplomacy in the Caspian Sea Basin: Changing Trends Since 2001,” said on Twitter on Feb. 16.
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Turkey once was Israel’s closest Muslim partner, but their strong military and economic alliance frayed after Erdogan took power in 2003 at the head of an Islamic-oriented government.
His scathing criticism of Israel’s wartime conduct in the Gaza Strip created deep frictions. Relations reached a nadir in 2010 after a deadly clash at sea between Israeli commandos and pro-Palestinian Turkish activists.
Ties were mended in 2016, but broke down again two years later after Israeli soldiers killed dozens of Palestinians protesting the U.S. Embassy’s move to Jerusalem. Ambassadors have yet to be returned, though bilateral trade has remained strong throughout the turbulence, reaching nearly $5 billion in 2020.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who has called the 61-year-old Herzog “an extraordinary diplomatic asset for solving problems,” has said the thaw with Turkey is proceeding “slowly and gradually.”
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Even if the countries reconcile, the level of warmth won’t return to pre-Erdogan days, said Remi Daniel, an expert in Israel-Turkey relations and researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The Turkish army, which had been instrumental in developing close military ties with Israel, has lost much of its clout with the government, and popular sentiment toward Israel in Turkey has soured, he said. Israel’s normalization of ties with Gulf Arab and North African states has given it other important Muslim allies, and it won’t jeopardize its recent bonding with Greece and Cyprus, which have fraught relations with Turkey, he said.
In a pointed message, Herzog will be visiting Athens and Cyprus before heading to Ankara.
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“He has become an effective international president in that people understand that when they speak to him, they are speaking to someone who coordinates with the prime minister and foreign minister,” said Mark Regev, who’s served as Israeli ambassador to London, and as spokesman for ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu and the Foreign Ministry.
Erdogan’s outreach to Herzog in his bid for detente is a quintessential first move because it can be painted as ceremonial, according to Palmor.
“It is a classic diplomatic method to overcome difficulties,” he said.
