Thread: Every once in a while when I tweet critique of Ankara I get replies about how Israel supported Ankara. This is not accurate since 2010. Israel has had terrible relations with the regime in Ankara for a decade. And Israel has openly opposed its policies.
There is one strange exception (and I don't mean trade, trade is normal). The exception is a small group of pro-Ankara voices in the US who are also pro-Israel and have sought to muddy the waters, pretending there is some "reconciliation" or Ankara is "against Iran".
It may be true that Turkey and Israel 20 years ago had good relations. Those relations led to bad bedfellows, like some pro-Israel folk going to bat for Ankara against recognition of the Armenian genocide. It also led to other denials about the nature of Ankara's new regime.
But in general since 2010 relations are very bad. There were a few attempts to patch things up. But you can't ignore the Ankara leader going to the UN in 2019 and slandering Israel...and hosting Hamas. The Trump admin ignored this until summer 2020.
Fact is that the Ankara regime, drunk on power, has tried to mobilize an anti-Israel alliance of far-right states and religious extremists. It tried to isolate Israel and opposed the Abraham Accords, and tries to harm the Greece-Israel ties.
It's not accurate to say Israel ever approved of Ankara's invasion of Afrin or anything like that. Insofar as a few media in Israel were "sold" stories about Ankara "fighting Hezbollah in Syria"...well that's a few wrongheaded analysis. But overall the relations are bad.
It's also a personal thing. Netanyahu in power for 11 years...Erdogan for like 20 years...so they don't get along either. Ankara sings the song of "reconciliation" whenever there are elections in Israel...but most Israeli security establishment understand the reality now.
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