Israel drops condition for Turkey to crack down on Hamas in reconciliation process

Israel is no longer making it a condition for Turkey to arrest or crackdown on Hamas members in order to restore relations, signifying a major shift in the two countries’ reconciliation process.

According to the Jerusalem Post, an anonymous senior Israeli official revealed last night that “We didn’t set a condition” for the crackdown on Hamas officials and members in Turkey, assuring that Tel Aviv is still “working very carefully on this matter”.

The official added that, while it was no longer making it a condition as part of “a very careful process of growing closer, there are gestures, here and there. We do see increased Turkish activity against terror in their territory.”

Relations between Israel and Turkey have, for years, been strained due to issues such as the Israeli attack on the Turkish aid flotilla in 2010, Israel’s constant shelling of the Gaza Strip and the declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by the former US administration of Donald Trump. Such issues have resulted in numerous diplomatic spats and the breakdown in relations over the years.

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There has recently been a push for reconciliation between Ankara and Tel Aviv, however, with negotiations going back and forth throughout the past year. A major condition, previously set by Israel for the restoration of ties, was that the Turkish government should crack down on elements of the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, within its borders.

That condition stemmed from claims by Israeli media, since 2019, that prominent Hamas figures were using Istanbul as a safe haven, that the group had set up an office and secret facility to conduct cyber-attacks on Israel, and that it was recruiting Palestinian students in Turkey to send them to the West Bank as agents.

The Israeli government has also long been concerned with the Turkish government’s vocal support of the Palestinian cause and its efforts to mediate between Hamas and its rival faction, Fatah, or the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Despite Tel Aviv seemingly willing to now drop that condition, it has still been cautious of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s overtures for reconciliation, with Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, saying earlier this month that “things are happening very slowly and gradually”.

In response to that Israeli condition, Turkey has previously made its own condition that Israel’s policies must be more “sensitive” towards Palestinians in order to restore ties.

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