IsraCast, Israel
Jan 16 2010
Israel’s Diplomatic Debacle & Mossad Success
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Defense Minister Ehud Barak To Examine If Turkey Is Willing To Put
Ayalon Affair In the Past & Treat Israel More Respectfully
IsraCast Assessment: Egypt Ignores Foreign Minister Lieberman But
Maintains Close Relations With Netanyahu Government – Possible
Precedent For Turkey?
Al-Aharam: ‘If Not For Mossad Chief Meir Dagan, Iran Would Have
Acquired Nuclear Weapons Years Ago!’
Defense Minister Ehud’s Barak’s official visit to Turkey has been
saved by the eleventh hour apology of Deputy Foreign Minister Danny
Ayalon. Barak will be able to examine what can be salvaged from the
relations after Ayalon tried to humiliate Turkish Ambassador Ahmet
Oguz Celikkol while delivering a protest over Turkey’s verbal attacks
on Israel and the screening of anti- Semitic programs on Turkish TV.
The Barak visit will now have added importance at a time that
relations between Jerusalem and Ankara have hit an all time low. On
the other hand, none other than the Egyptian newspaper Al-Aharam
credits Mossad chief Meir Dagan with stalling Iran’s nuclear weapons
project.
Recently, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman summoned Israeli
ambassadors and consuls from around the world to Jerusalem – he
instructed the senior diplomats, in no uncertain terms, to cease their
‘apologetic’ approach in presenting Israel’s battle for survival. The
diplomats were ordered to go on the offensive in confronting the
diplomatic warfare now being waged against the Jewish state, not only
in international forums such as the UN, but also frequently in the
international media. Lieberman did have a case; Israel is more often
than not held accountable to a stricter double standard than, for
example the U.S., Britain and the all the other democratic NATO
members, when one considers such arenas as Afghanistan, Iraq and
elsewhere. (And of course, Russia in Chechnya or China in Tibet get a
free pass altogether). Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon then
proceeded to demonstrate how it’s done. Muslim Turkey, once one of
Israel’s closest allies where Israeli pilots once used Turkish Air
Force bases for training, has recently shifted its foreign policy
goals.
In the assessment of Dr Uzi Rabi, an Israeli expert: ‘Turkey knocked
on the door of the European Union for years, but that door has not
opened’. Now Turkey has realigned its foreign policy toward the Muslim
and Arab world – Israel is paying the price. Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who started out as an interlocutor between
Israel and Syria, has repeatedly castigated the Jewish state for
nearly everything that has gone wrong in the Middle East. (Channel One
Commentator Oded Granot cracked that any moment look for Erdogan to
bring up ‘The Jews also killed Jesus!’ The Turkish Prime Minister,
Erdogan, a devout Muslim, whose Justice & Development party ruling
party is Islamic in nature, escalated his rhetoric in a fierce
confrontation with Israel’s President Shimon Peres, a year ago at the
World Economic Forum in Davos. Erdogan stalked out after Peres rose to
the occasion and responded to the Turk’s diatribe by retorting: ‘What
would you do if Istanbul were being hit by thousands of rockets!’
Since then it’s been nearly all downhill although Infrastructure
Minister ‘Fuad’ Ben Eliezer was officially invited to Istanbul
recently and returned home describing it as both ‘successful and
cordial’. However, his optimism was short lived. Israel’s close
strategic ties with Turkey appear to have ended; Turkey recently
scratched Israel from planned military maneuvers with the U.S., but to
the Turks’ chagrin, the U.S. then refused to participate. Nonetheless,
Defense Minister Ehud Barak is about to make an official visit to
Turkey, a trip that would have been canceled, if Israel’s Foreign
Ministry had not issued the official apology demanded by Turkey. But
the fact is that in diplomatic etiquette Ayalon’s attempt at
humiliating Turkey’s Ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol falls under the
aegis ‘IT’S NOT DONE!’ Diplomats, as representatives and the symbol of
a foreign country are always to be treated by the host countries with
the utmost respect regardless of the current state of relations.
It had also been an incontrovertible tenet of Israeli diplomacy. In
one fell swoop, Ayalon a career diplomat had thrown all his discretion
to the wind and had succeeded, incredibly, in turning the tables
against Israel – instead of pressing her case against the unjust
invective of Istanbul, Ayalon had switched the diplomatic spotlight on
his egregious handling of the Turkish ambassador. ( If any of the
young cadets in the Israel Foreign |Ministry’s training course had
proposed an Ayalon – type solution in a case study, the deputy foreign
minister would himself probably have kicked him/her out as unsuitable.
The only positive thing is perhaps the current Turkish debacle can be
used as a case study on how not to conduct Israel’s foreign
relations).
Nevertheless, why did Ayalon set himself up for all the flak he is now
taking. At first it was widely held in Israel that Lieberman, the
boss, instructed /ordered his deputy to publicly humiliate the Turkish
ambassador Celikkol – in line with the view ‘that’s the lingua franca
in the Middle East’. Alas! The Turks responded with diplomatic
professionalism, summoned the Israeli ambassador and demanded an
official Israeli apology, which they eventually received to Israel’s
ignominy.
In a recent report, IsraCast raised the issue of how unsuitable
appointments, for political purposes to high government office, can
lead to reckless results. As a party leader and MK, Lieberman had
sparked a diplomatic uproar when he declared in a Knesset debate that
Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak ‘could go to Hell’ for refusing to
ever officially visit Israel. Nonetheless, Prime Minister Netanyahu
later appointed Lieberman as foreign minister in order to gain his
coalition support. Undoubtedly, Lieberman notorious for his
undiplomatic ways, is the least suitable politician to serve as
Israel’s #1 diplomat. It recalls former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s
agreeing to let Labor party leader Amir Peretz, the former trade union
boss, take over as defense minister. Political reporter Ayala Hasson
of Channel One TV has said although Ayalon was obviously spurred on by
Lieberman’s more assertive approach for Israeli diplomats, the Foreign
Minister did not tell Ayalon to try and humiliate the Turkish
ambassador – he was only to lodge a stern protest. The deputy then
went overboard apparently believing his actions were in line with the
wishes of his minister. If so, this raises serious doubts about
Ayalon’s judgment and diplomatic skills. This is one version – there
is another.
Ayalon served as Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s ambassador to
Washington and a career diplomat does not reach that level without
being very smart. Therefore, he must have known that humiliating a
foreign ambassador is a ‘no-no’ in diplomacy and one that would
backfire and yet he did not, probably out of fear of his boss, refuse
to carry out an instruction, that would so obviously harm Israel’s
national interest. But Ayalon was not alone in his timorousness to
face Lieberman; even Prime Minister Netanyahu did not criticize
publicly the fiasco, due to his concern that if Lieberman were angered
he might bolt the coalition. When Turkey’s deadline running out,
President Peres provided the ‘ladder for the climdown’ by his
telephone call to Bibi suggesting that things with Turkey had
deteriorated far enough and must be rectified. This enabled the Prime
Minister to approach Lieberman with a request that ‘for Shimon’s
sake’, Ayalon should issue an apology and promise not to do it again.
The Turkey dossier could have and should have been handled
differently. Cabinet Minister Ben Eliezer lambasted Ayalon’s behavior
calling it ‘harmful and superfluous’ in spite of Turkey’s unfair
bashing of the Jewish state. Ben Eliezer exclaimed:’What do we want to
do arouse the entire Muslim world against us!’ The cabinet minister
was contacted by Israel Radio at the head of a working delegation to
India, a country that has been steadily expanding its relations with
Israel. Defense Minister Ehud Barak, as did the other cabinet members
steered clear of commenting on the diplomatic disaster. Barak
side-stepped the question by saying that it was not his job to give
marks to the foreign ministry. Even Opposition leader Tzipi Livni,
appeared cognizant of the deteriorating situation and preferred not to
viewed as siding with the Turks by criticizing the government; but
after Istanbul accepted Israel’s apology, the opposition can be
expected to follow the Israeli media in hauling Lieberman, Ayalon and
Netanyahu over the coals. It will be up to Defense Minister Ehud Barak
to examine what can be built on the burning bridges between Jerusalem
and Ankara.
What is so exasperating about the ill-considered affair is that Israel
is far ‘more sinned against than sinning’. And the question remains –
how should Israel react to the unbridled verbal attacks from Turkey, a
country notorious for its brutal suppression of its Kurdish minority
that has been fighting for autonomy. Could Israel not make quiet
diplomatic use of one sort or another of this and other issues? For
example, the fact that in recent years Israeli governments, out of
consideration for its relations with Turkey, rejected international
appeals from various quarters to recognize the Turkish massacre of an
estimated one and half million Armenians during World War I . The
Armenians view it as their Holocaust. And when it comes to the use of
force, what of the Turks’ invasion of Northern Cyprus where they still
remain since 1974. This is in violation of the UN Charter and repeated
Security Council resolutions although Istanbul contended they were
sent to protect Turkish Cypriots from their Greek counterparts.
Moreover, the Turks then proceeded illegally to set up an illegal
breakaway state resulting in the expulsion of an estimated 250,000
Greek Cypriot refugees from the North. In addition, 120,000 Turkish
settlers were then brought in from Turkey. For the record, all but
five of the 500 Greek orthodox churches were either desecrated or
destroyed during the Turkish invasion. This is the record of the
country that Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon had to apologize to
this week.
So, Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, under the stewardship of
Avigdor Lieberman, has chalked up another key Middle East state with
which it nearly severed diplomatic relations. But strangely enough,
the Prime Minister’s relations with Egypt seem to be thriving –
Netanyahu and other cabinet ministers have been invited to Cairo and
the Egyptians are, for the first time, really cracking down on the
Hamas arms smuggling into Gaza. In effect, the Egyptians perceived
Lieberman as a ‘loose cannon on deck’, and agreed to bypass the
Lieberman Foreign Ministry. The Egyptian case could set a precedent
for Turkey as well, if Defense Minister Barak finds the Turks are
ready to put the Ayalon affair behind them and also treat Israel more
respectfully than they have recently.
Al-Aharam: ‘ If Not For Mossad’s Meir Dagan, Iran Would Have Acquired
Nuclear Weapons Years Ago!’
The leading Egyptian newspaper Al-Aharam has credited Meir Dagan, the
chief of Israel’s Mossad secret service, with delivering ‘painful
blows’ that have stalled Iran’s nuclear weapons project for the past
eight years. The paper concludes: ‘If not for Dagan, Iran would have
acquired nuclear weapons years ago!’ The article adds that the
Iranians know the Mossad was behind the assassination of nuclear
scientist Prof. Massaoud Ali Mohammadi in Tehran on Jan 12th. The
Mossad was also said to have played a key role in the demonstrations
against the regime since the recent Iranian election. Dubbing Dagan
‘Superman of the Jewish state’, Al Aharam added that no one could have
imagined that the Mossad chief could not only have delayed the Iranian
nuclear project but to have also downgraded the military capabilities
of the Syrian army, Hezbollah, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. All the
while, Dagan has worked in the shadows shunning media publicity.
According to Al- Aharam, the Mossad has been involved in many ‘daring
operations’ in the Middle East such as the assassination of Hezbollah
commander Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus in 2008, the bombing of a secret
Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007, and an air strike on a clandestine
arms convoy in Sudan that was on its way from Iran to Gaza last year.
Egypt is a bitter rival of Iran and last year the Egyptian secret
service uncovered an Iranian backed subversive network operating
inside the country.
David Essing
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