Diplomacy of Rabbis

The breakdown of Israeli-Turkish relations began with Operation Cast Lead in December 2008, continued with the Davos meeting between Peres and Erdogan (January 2009) and the joint marine maneuver that was cancelled (October 2009), and reached its lowest point subsequent to the Mavi Marmara flotilla incident (late May 2010). The ambassadors of both countries were sent home, and the investigation committees that worked throughout the past two years did not manage to mediate the dispute. Both governments have their own demands and have reached a stalemate.

But many in Israel and Turkey miss the warmth and camaraderie that the two countries shared in the past, and apparently, commercial relations between the two countries have actually flourished over the past two years, not diminished. Even though El Al no longer flies to Turkey, Turkish Airlines operates several daily flights between Israel and Turkey, and the planes are full.

Satmar Hassids and Reformists in One Party

Some of Israel’s Turkish friends are working behind the scenes to improve relations between the two countries. One of them is Adnan Oktar, a Turk, devout Muslim, and Israel sympathizer, who has published several books and articles under his alias, Harun Yahya, about Darwinism, Communism, History, Philosophy, and Theology. He has amassed a large following, and according to the Jordanian Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center, he is currently one of the 50 most influential people in the Islamic world. Oktar also has his fair share of adversaries that have tried to silence him in any way possible. He is not afraid to rectify his errors: in the past he was considered a Holocaust denier, and later he changed his mind. After the events of 9/11, he published a book that claimed that true Islam opposes terrorism, and since then he has been attempting to promote inter-faith dialogue and bring people closer together. In his articles and books, Oktar tends to quote the Prophets of Israel and their vision of global peace and redemption. He publicly supports the sovereign right of the Jewish nation to live independently on their forefathers’ land, and in true peace with its Arab neighbors, the Turks, the Iranians, and others, and subsequently his opponents claim that he is actually a Mossad agent…

As an Islamic speaker, Oktar prefers to conduct dialogue and affairs with devout Jews, with whom he finds a common cultural foundation. He believes that a God fearing Jew, like any person in the world that believes in the Almighty, is his brother. Oktar believes that Abraham is the forefather of all monotheists, and there is therefore no reason for them to quarrel over anything. Peace, camaraderie, and collaboration between people are the ultimate values in the eyes of the Almighty, while war, strife, and death go against his wishes. This belief prompted Oktar to invite to Turkey a delegation of Members of Knesset from the religious spectrum of Israeli culture, with the aim of opening a dialogue between official Israel and the Turkish political strata, more specifically, the religious Justice and Development Party (JDP), which has been in power since 2002. The Israeli delegation also included MKs Rabbi Nissim Ze’ev and Rabbi Yitzhak Cohen, who also serves as the Deputy Minister of Finance. The delegation was also joined by Rabbi Yitzhak Dayan, the Rabbi of Geneva, Rabbi Benyamin Abrahamson, an Advisor to the Sanhedrin, Ms. Shoshana Beckerman, the parliamentary assistant of MK Rabbi Nissim Ze’ev, and yours truly.

The delegation spent two days engaged in discussions, one day in the capital of Ankara and the other in Istanbul, where dozens of people from the hard core of Turkish politics participated, most of them members of the Islamic party. This party is anything but homogeneous. For the sake of analogy, imagine a religious party in Israel that includes Satmar Hassids, Shas, Degel Hatorah, Agudat Yisrael, Hamafdal, Habayit Hayehudi, Ne'emanei Torah Va'Avodah, the Conservatives and the Reformists – all in one party. The wolf will live with a lamb and the tiger will lie down with the kid before such a party will be established in Israel. But in Turkey, this is what the JDP is like, which is apparently why it is the largest party, and the one in power (Israeli politicians take note). It contains extremists and moderates, modernists and traditionalists, and their belief in Allah is what unites them all. Naturally, those among them that met with the Israeli delegation treated Israel much more favorably than their Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

They discussed every issue, leaving no stone unturned: the Arab-Israeli conflict, Davos, the Marmara, and Turkish-Israeli relations. The primary meeting was held in Ankara on August 15, with approx. 20 members of the JDP, and it began in a somewhat tense atmosphere. However, during the meeting the tension dissipated and both parties reached the conclusion that the challenges that Israel and Turkey currently face – Iran, Syria, Lebanon and more – are much bigger than the events of 2008-2010. The meeting ended with the decision to establish a joint committee comprised of three members from each side that will continue to conduct a dialogue with the goal of finding a formula that will enable the Israeli and Turkish governments to restore their good relations. Discussions were held in a friendly and harmonious atmosphere that Adnan Oktar emanates.

Mr. Yashar Yakish, Turkey’s former Foreign Minister, headed the meeting and made the following announcement (my additions in parentheses): “On August 15, 2012, we broke our fast with the Israeli delegation. After the feast, friendly opinions were exchanged. The Turkish participants included the former Minister of Health, Halil Sivgin, former ministers and members of parliament, and myself (Yakish). The Israeli delegation included… (names noted above). The meeting was organized by Adnan Oktar’s organization, and was held at the Marriott Hotel in Ankara. The two delegations exchanged opinions in a friendly manner about the current relations between Turkey and Israel, and indicated that the strained relations do not serve the interests of either side. During the meeting, different ideas were voiced with the aim of finding a way out of the conundrum. However, the meeting did not bring about any concrete suggestions since this was the first encounter between the two delegations. It was therefore decided that each of them would appoint a team of three members that would stay in touch to narrow down the issue. It will not be easy to reach specific recommendations, as long as the discussion remains broad. The team members will try to reach concrete suggestions and organize additional future meetings if suggestions are indeed made that justify another meeting”.

The former Health Minister in Erdogan’s government, Halil Sivgin, issued a similar statement, and added: “It’s good to see that both sides are making an effort to promote and develop Turkish-Israeli relations, which have deteriorated as a result of the Mavi Marmara incident. However, I believe that both sides need to make more of an effort to promote relations between them. These efforts will contribute to regional and global peace”.

The Turks Went All Out to Make the Meeting a Success

The Israeli and Turkish delegations never perceived or presented themselves as representing their governments or heads of state. Their goal was one and the same: to generate among the political strata a mutual understanding and public atmosphere that will alleviate the governments’ decision making. The meetings were also unofficial in nature, the Turkish government was obviously aware of the visit, just like Rabbi Yitzhak Cohen, Deputy Minister of Finance’s participation was not a secret to the Israeli government. The Israeli delegation also met with a representative of the Republican People’s Party (the secular party in the opposition), and left this friendly meeting with a good feeling as well.

It is important to mention that the Turkish side went all out to make things easier for the delegation, from funding the visit by Adnan Oktar’s organization, to ensuring that the food was Lemehadrin Kosher. A person invests tens of thousands of dollars only for a cause that he believes is important, and obviously restoring relations between Israel and Turkey is important to Oktar. Nowadays, when very few Muslims are prepared to identify with Israel, the work Oktar has done for the Israeli nation and the State of Israel, and his statements on peace and harmony between Israel and its neighbors must be extolled.

In response to the question, Oktar said that “the purpose of the visit was to establish friendly relations between Israel and Turkey, to dissipate the tension between the countries, and to show that our love and compassion for the Jewish people, which has lasted throughout history, is indisputably firm and abiding. This visit was a slap in the face for those exhibiting hostility toward the Jewish nation. I hope that relations between Turkey and Israel improve, since both countries are allies. We believe that things will work out, and that collaboration and an alliance with Israel is important, since the Jews are ancestors of the prophets Abraham and Israel. The purpose of our work with Israel is to prevent disasters. We are pro-peace and anti-war and bloodshed. We call for freedom. Is this bad? Not at all. We want to ensure that Israel will be Turkey’s friend. Is this good or bad? Good!”

I know how close Oktar is to Erdogan. But the meetings he organized for the Israeli delegation were impressive, and proved that he is very close to some of the people in the ruling party. This is particularly evident considering that this was the first time in recent years that an Israeli parliamentary delegation came to Turkey. There was an unmistakable impression that Israel is dear to a lot of people in Turkey in general, and in the ruling JDP in particular, and they feel that the time has come for Israel and Turkey to conclude the bleak chapter in the history of their relations.

Diplomacy and Tradition

The delegation to Turkey can be seen in a wider perspective: The Islamic world around us is becoming increasingly more religious. In Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Kuwait, Gaza (an Islamic state for the past five years, in case no one has noticed), and of course in Iran – a cultural shift toward Islam has already occurred, and a subsequent political change, each according to its own style and course. Some say that “they are all extremists, all terrorists, they all want to drown us in the sea, because we are a Jewish, democratic, modern, Western and liberal state”, and they will have on whom to base this belief, because there will always be preachers and imams that will justify this outlook. However, reality seems to be much more complex. There are so many streams of Judaism among the 13 million Jews in the world. How many streams of Islam can there be among the 1.5 billion Muslims?

I am not claiming that there are no extremists or terrorists in the Muslim world. But there are also others that are not extremists or terrorists, and they see themselves as no less adherent to Islam than the extremists. Like us, many Muslims shape their religious world according to their mental alignment, the education they received, and according to the cultural worldview that they formed in their adult life. Many of them are willing to accept the Other as is, even if he is a Jew, Israeli and even a Zionist. The courageous among them will announce this, those more courageous will support and fund an activity meant to establish the regional status and power of the State of Israel, but the most courageous will not attempt to hide their support from the media and from the public in their country. The most prominent example of such a courageous person is Adnan Oktar.

The way to our neighbors’ hearts, those more or less sympathetic, is ultimately paved by personal contact. It seems that devout Muslims feel more comfortable with traditional Jews who share their belief in the Almighty, and therefore perhaps our Rabbis and Jewish traditionalists can pave Israel’s difficult path into the heart of the Muslim world. The Foreign Ministry does not, of course, need to recruit its cadets from the Porat Yosef Yeshiva or Ponevezh Yeshiva, yet it seems as if the right people to conduct affairs and dialogue with Muslims faithful to their religion and tradition are not actually graduates of the Shimon Peres, Yossi Beilin, and Alon Liel secular liberal cultural school of thought.

It seems as if the traditionalists among us can find the way to negotiate Israel’s relations with its neighbors. They must speak the language of the region – Arabic, Turkish and Persian – and undergo professional negations and diplomacy training. They will have an easier time achieving diplomatic accomplishments with our traditional Muslim neighbors, and the Foreign Ministry and Prime Minister’s Office should take this into consideration.