Turkey’s Rise Is Israel’s New Problem

On Aug. 18, Israel attacked the Abu al-Duhur air base in Syria, escalating brewing tensions with Turkey—the United States’ other key ally in the region.

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Israel, however, views Turkey as a hostile power and dreads a “Sunni ring of fire”—a Turkey-led alliance of Muslim Arab nations that Israel fears might encircle and isolate it in the region.

“We cannot allow Turkey to deploy troops on our borders,” said Yaakov Amidror, a distinguished fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America and a former advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I don’t think anyone will host Turkish forces against Israel’s wishes. That will be a basis for friction in the future—a big mistake.”

Israel’s mistrust of Turkey is underpinned by Erdogan’s support for Hamas, sympathy for the Muslim Brotherhood, and a suspicion that it harbors imperial ambitions. “Erdogan is very close to the Muslim Brotherhood,” Amidror said, noting that Hamas is an offshoot of the organization. “Turkey is hosting Hamas’s leadership, from where they can still plot terror attacks inside Israel.”

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