Israel to Turkey: We won't wage war of words through the press
'Israel has no interest in settling disagreements through newspaper headlines,' officials told Ankara.
By Barak Ravid Tags: Turkey Israel news IDFIsrael sought to ease tensions with the Turkish government on Tuesday, after it canceled Israel's participation in a joint air force exercise.
Diplomats at the Israeli mission in Ankara told Turkish foreign ministry officials that "Israel has no interest in settling disagreements through newspaper headlines," Haaretz has learned.
The Israeli diplomats told Haaretz that Jerusalem decided to take a moderate stance toward the canceled exercise and the general tension between the two governments. The diplomats said Jerusalem "understood" the Turkish foreign ministry's statement on Tuesday that the cancelation was not political.
In contrast, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday slammed Israel for its conduct during Operation Cast Lead in January. The daily Sabah reported that during an address to the local Religion Council, Erdogan said "people just watched from the comfort of their chairs as phosphorus bombs rained on innocent children in Gaza."
"In some countries children are provided with comfort, peace and the most advanced education and health opportunities, while other children face poverty, destitution, helplessness, war, conflict, weapons of mass destruction and phosphorus bombs," he said.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Ehud Barak insisted on Tuesday at security talks in Prague that the exercise was not canceled but merely "postponed."
"Turkey is an important and central state in our region. Israel has had a strategic relationship with Turkey for decades. Despite the ups and downs, the relationship between the two states is important both to us and to the Turks, and for this reason the relationship will not change."
Former foreign minister and current opposition leader Tzipi Livni also joined the diplomatic efforts through an interview with Turkish state television.
"I say to the citizens of Turkey that supporting the war on terror is not anti-Palestinian, but anti-terrorist," she said.
"Hamas does not represent the national aspirations of the Palestinians, and it does not work to promote them. As a supporter of a Palestinian state, I would like to tell you that the need to fight terrorism and extremism is something all powers of moderation in the region have in common - and Turkey should be among those powers as well," said Livni.
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"I say to the citizens of Turkey that supporting the war on terror is not anti-Palestinian, but anti-terrorist," - Tzipi Livni The Turks understand that. They have their own Terrorist problem. The US finally started dealing with some of it's problems intelligently and has had good results in Iraq. First we had to admit we were a BIG part of our problem. That we were so enthralled with 'fighting' terrorism that we were manufacturing our enemy. Once we switched our objective from killing Iraqis to protecting them the change in the course of the war was impressive. The civilian population may look like the enemy, but they are not. But as long as they are treated like the enemy they will not help sort out those who are the enemy.
For some years now Turkey has been trying hard to normalize, stabilize, and improve relations with all of it's neighbors. This has included Israel. Even Armenia. Turkey has been trying hard to improve relations with Syria, and major agreements were made in Aleppo recently. Israel only chose to see the military cooperation between the two nations. Israel has resisted every effort of Turkey to promote better relations between it and Syria as well as Lebanon. I am glad that the government of Israel has decided to cool the rhetoric. Anyone who watched what happened - and I am not speaking of the propaganda hype by either side - in Cast Lead understood what the target list was, and what the objectives were. Cast Lead created an immense problem for all nations in the region who have normal relations with Israel. This should be understood and considered.
Who,besides you maybe,regards that as good PR for Palestine? Hamas TV show teaches kids to kill Jews - Jihad Watch26 Sep 2009 ... The bear puppet host, Nassur, of a Hamas children's TV program ..... This program says to kill all Jews, not just those living in Israel. ... www.jihadwatch.org/.../hamas-tv-show-teaches-kids-to-kill-jews.html - Cached - Similar Video results for Hamas TV on kill all Jews Hamas TV: Jews enemies of Allah -should all be ... 59 sec www.youtube.com ANSAmed24 Sep 2009 ... guest on the programme named Saraa that all Jews "must be eliminated from our land". ... "I want to kill them," was the child's answer. ... It is not the first time that Hamas-controlled TV has broadcast children's ... www.ansamed.info/en/news/ME03.@AM40832.html - Cached - Similar
Special Dispatch | No. 2565 | September 27, 2009 Jihad & Terrorism Studies Project An Overview Of Al-Qaeda's Recent Threats Against Germany SUBSCRIBE | UNSUBSCRIBE | DONATE | CONTACT US MEMRI | MEMRI TV | THE MEMRI BLOG | MEMRI ECONOMIC BLOG | THE JIHAD AND TERRORISM THREAT MONITOR PROJECT TURKISH MEDIA PROJECT | IRAN BLOG | MIDDLE EAST CULTURE BLOG Al-Qaeda and related groups have launched a campaign of threats against Germany in the lead-up to the German parliamentary elections being held today, September 27, 2009. This concentration of coordinated messages is highly unusual. One of the messages was distributed through a jihadi media group with connections to the Uzbek Islamic Jihad Union, which has been tied to attempted attacks in Germany in the past. For these reasons the threats against Germany should be taken seriously. The heart of this campaign is a group of three videos released in the last ten days. The first was a video by Bekkay Harrach, aka Abu Talha. This individual is a German of Moroccan extraction who has appeared in German-language jihadist propaganda over the last year. His message is simple: The only problem Al-Qaeda has with Germany is its participation in the war in Afghanistan. Either the voters elect a government that will withdraw its troops, or Germany will become a target. He specifically tells German Muslims that if the elections do not bring a change in policy toward Afghanistan they should stay out of public spaces in the two weeks following the elections. At one point he mentions the Oktoberfest, which may be a hint at a prospective target.(1) (Germany has now banned flights over Munich during the Oktoberfest.)(2) Al-Qaeda's feature-length video for the eighth anniversary of 9/11, which was released several days later, contained a reference to Abu Talha's warning.(3) The second step in the campaign was Osama Bin Laden's audio recording "Message to the European Peoples." The text of the message did not single out Germany, but it was distributed in a version with German subtitles (in addition to one with the more standard English subtitles), and in the context of the larger campaign should be seen as a warning to Germany. Bin Laden's message focused on the theme that America is an unreliable ally for Europe, pointing out the U.S.'s inability to restore Georgian sovereignty over Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In a possible reference to the recent shift of political winds in the U.S., Bin Laden asserts that the Americans will be leaving Afghanistan, and then "just we and you [the Europeans] will remain, for the oppressed to retaliate from his oppressor."(4)
Seeing as Hamas, elected by the majority of Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza, in a process that the international monitors called free and fair, does not represent the national aspirations of Palestinians, I guess it is fair to say Netanyahu does not represent the national aspirations of Israelis. And I guess it will not do to promote him. So, who exactly should Fatah be talking to?
Thank you for your proposition to welcome the "decent minority" of Israelis to Germany and become part of the "decent majority" of Germans who might well become a minority of dhimmis in the "Islamic Republic of Germany" in a not so distant future!
What a play. In international press, whenever a dispute arises about Turkey, west side of US, (LA, CA) begins to talk such "dont trust Turkey, they killed bla bla.". So,i tell me my "Armenian" friends from California diaspora; do you really believe that you can change public opinion via internet? maybe some Jewish friends may change their mind and talk about you "genocide", but not teh government of Israel and decent Jewish people. and about the REAL problem: what did your grandfathers do? why did they betray their own country? you trusted england and france, russia later. so what happened? just disaster and you call that disaster as genocide as if you did not kill any single civilian Turkish person. Go ahead, maybe one day, there will be a poll in internet you will win.
for the decent minority of israelis who are embarrassed by such a government. Remember you are welcome in Germany.
some war on terror..... killing kids and stealing land creates resistance... israel calls that terror.... you reap as you sow. israel seems to have forgotten this fundamental truth
Turks are not afraid to show who their real friends are,Iran and Syria.And they can even show that they can do whatever they want in the ME and nobody can say a word.Do we need to let them go this far.
Turkey has new alies, Iran and Syria and apparently Israel is not on Turkeys list of friends.Turkey is too powerful and arrogant.But who created this powerful islamic state if not US and Israel?So we shouldn't complain.It's too late.
Two days ago the Netanahu government made it clear that it would get even with Turkey for stopping Israel's participation in a NATO exercise. Now we are supposed to forget it ever happened. We know what the first and blatant impulse of Netanyahu was. Now we, the world, and Turkey are to forget it ever happened. Does Israel need the act upon impulse, think later, lie about it, government of Mr. Netanyahu? Yes, say the majority of Israelis. Perhaps, they might think it through.
Am I the ONLY person out there who remembers the pledge of the Netanyahu government to get even with the Turkish government promised in the headlines of Haaretz just two days ago?
but people of good will should remember that Erdogan just watched from the comfort of his chair as missiles rained on innocent children in Sderot.
""Hamas does not represent the national aspirations of the Palestinians, and it does not work to promote them. As a supporter of a Palestinian state, I would like to tell you that the need to fight terrorism and extremism is something all powers of moderation in the region have in common - and Turkey should be among those powers as well," said Livni" a hasbarah handbook addict, mutton dressed up as lamb, a pig with lipstick is still a pig( regarding the excuse, and not livni herself).