by David Harris
JERUSALEM, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama hopes leading players in the Middle East will help create a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians, but a series of diplomatic tiffs between Israel and other countries in the region suggest a worsening of ties and less willingness to work with Israel.
In the last week alone relations between Israel on the one hand and Egypt and Turkey on the other have taken a turn for the worse.
CAIRO, ANKARA DISTANCE THEMSELVES FROM ISRAEL
Egypt said this week it would not take its seat at next month's planned Euro-Med conference if it is attended by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. The controversial Israeli politician is embroiled in a long-running argument with Cairo that has become increasingly personal of late.
As a result, the summit has been postponed.
Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan alleged in the British newspaper The Guardian that Lieberman had said Israel intended to nuke the adjoining Palestinian coastal enclave, the Gaza Strip.
Israel immediately dismissed this claim as preposterous. Yet it came just after Ankara refused to allow Israel to participate in a NATO exercise over Turkish airspace, the incident suggests something is very wrong in the normally cordial relationship.
Much of this icy view of Israel goes back to Israel's major military offensive on Gaza in December and January. There has been considerable international condemnation of Israel's actions.
Both Egypt and Turkey have said the recently published Goldstone report into events in Gaza got it right. That report, which was presented to the UN Human Rights Council in late September, argued that Israel may have been guilty of war crimes during its winter operation.
ISRAEL RESPONDS
While officials in Israel are reticent to comment publicly on the tiff with Egypt, behind closed doors they are putting much of it down to Lieberman's own comments that Cairo found offensive. Before taking up his current post, Lieberman once said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak could "go to hell."
While Lieberman is persona non grata in Cairo, Israeli Foreign Ministry is continuing normal working relations with Egypt. The ministry's director general visited Cairo earlier in the year.
When asked about the relationship, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Andy David said there were many "common interests but sometimes there are differences as to how to achieve them." He refused to comment on whether the latest Egyptian snub was aimed at Lieberman or Israel in general.
In the case of Turkey, Israel has a lot to lose. Not only has Turkey played a crucial role in regional peace efforts, most notably between Israel and Syria, but the country also represents both strategic and economic footholds and targets for the Jewish state.
On the economic level, Turkey has been the most popular destination for Israeli tourists for several years. Its proximity to Israel along with once warm ties made it the ideal location. However, tourist numbers have dropped off since the Gaza operation and subsequent highly-publicized rows. There is also talk of some business deals being placed on hold.
Strategically, Turkey has become a close partner of Israel, particularly in the realm of defense. The two countries have taken part in many joint military exercises along with the United States.
All this led Israel to launch a media campaign to try to repair the damage.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) published an item on Tuesday, for example, looking at the extensive rescue work it carried out in Turkey in the aftermath of the 1999 earthquake that rocked northwestern Turkey, killing estimated 17,000 people.
"The human memory is short. At the time, the Israeli delegation was a real hit, we were very popular -- not only during but also after the event," Hezi Levi, the man who headed the Israeli team, said in the article published by the IDF.
INTERNAL POLITICS AT PLAY
On the face of it and given international criticism of Israel in the post-Gaza operation period, that there is room for assuming the reactions to Israel from Cairo and Ankara are purely objective. However, there is opinion in Israel that much of the current deterioration in ties is because of internal political issues in both cases.
"Behind the scenes relations are pretty good between Egypt and Israel (when it comes to dealing with fundamentalist organizations). In other areas you can see how Egypt attacks us in international organizations... This mix is a part of the rules of the game," said Zaki Shalom of the Ben-Gurion Research Institute at Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
In Turkey's case, Shalom said divisions between the secularist military and the ruling AK Party, with its Islamist roots, mean that Israel is fair game in the battle between them.
The Turkish defense establishment enjoys a very close working relationship with its Israeli counterpart and does not want to see it damaged. At the same time Erdogan's the Justice and Development(AK) Party sees the Israel issue as being one that can endear it to the more religious elements in Turkish society.
"I think in the long term the pragmatic approach will prevail in Turkey, and while relations might not be what they once were, I think we'll see good, practical ties," said Shalom.
For now though, Israel is busy trying to extinguish fires where it can -- sending out people like its eloquent deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon to tackle reporters' questions.
The Goldstone document is dogging Israel's efforts, while Tuesday's publication of a report from Amnesty International on Israeli water policy concerning the Palestinians has done the country no favors.
Israeli diplomats are hard at work in friendly capitals trying to persuade Western countries to block moves in the international community to punish Israel for its role in the Gaza fighting.
For now though, the headlines suggest an increasingly isolated Israel within a Middle East that does not buy its narrative and is making increasingly clear its opposition to Israeli policies, particularly with regard to the stalled peace process with the Palestinians.
On the heels of conducing a joint missile defense exercise - which simulated a response to an attack by the Islamic Republic, Syria, and Hezbollah - Israel and the U.S. will conduct another today. (
..Israeli Shekel Exchange
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