Although the diplomatic and economic relations between Israel and Turkey could be reestablished quite quickly, the sensitive military and strategic cooperation is much more difficult to achieve, in view of the deep changes in the ranks of the Turkish military and intelligence echelons and of mutual mistrust – which will not disappear overnight.

Davutoglu evaluated that: “The normalization process with Israel would strengthen Palestine’s position in the peace process,” and promised to closely monitor lifting of the Gaza blockade.

The first test for Erdogan’s real intentions vis-a-vis Iarael will be his expected visit to Gaza in mid-April, where he is sure to be received as the next Sultan. The crucial question is how much support Erdogan will give to Hamas’ ambition to become the sole major force in the Palestinian Authority, which it aims to do without renouncing its goal of liberating all of Palestine through the armed struggle. And regarding these intentions, it should be noted that ever since Turkey invited the Hamas leadership to Ankara back in 2006, Turkey’s leadership has neither criticized Hamas’ violent activities nor succeeded in influencing its strategy, whilst protesting loudly Israel’s retaliatory actions. Erdogan’s most recent comments, in which he ties the normalization of relations with Israel to full implementation of the conditions of the deal, suggests that the agreement reached is more tentative than concrete, and that a new age in relations is not yet here.

Read this article in full at Haaretz.