(Jerusalem Post) Herb Keinon - The disappearance of Saudi government critic and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey - and the very real possibility that the Saudis either kidnapped or killed him - could have an impact on Israel. Eran Lerman, vice president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies and a former deputy national security council head, said: "It is certainly not in our interests to see the status of the Saudi government diminished in Washington." Dore Gold, head of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and former Foreign Ministry director-general, said: "This problem could be used by the Iranians to drive a wedge between the West and Saudi Arabia." That is bad for Israel because "anything that strengthens Iran's posturing in the Middle East is bad for Israel," and in the Mideast balance of power, a weakened Saudi Arabia means a strengthened Iran. It also means a strengthened Turkey, which could explain why Ankara is leaking information about the investigation. "Turkey is part of an axis with Qatar," Gold said, "and that puts Saudi Arabia at odds with the Turkish government."
2018-10-12 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive