(Ha'aretz) Jacob Dayan - As chief of staff for former Israeli foreign ministers Silvan Shalom and Tzipi Livni, I participated in a number of meetings with Turkish President Erdogan, during the days in which he still met with Israeli leaders. In all of these meetings I felt his conspicuous lack of affection for Israel, and even hatred. Erdogan had a clear vision of the new Middle East, and it did not include Israel. We have a tendency to blame ourselves for everything that doesn't work, but in this case, the relationship with Erdogan was hopeless from the beginning. Only those who were present in a meeting with Erdogan and felt his burning hatred for Israel, and only those who heard what he said, can understand how deeply these things are imprinted in his worldview.
2021-07-22 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive