If Erdoğan was not informed about the operation, or misinformed about Israel's intentions, this is more than disrespect. This shows where Israel puts Turkey in its strategic perception of the world. See how!
An insightful article penned by Barak Ravid appeared on Israeli daily Haaretz's Web site yesterday. According to the writer, who has sources within the Israeli defense establishment, Defense Minister Ehud Barak "instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a cease-fire agreement with Hamas." The preparations were brought for Barak's final approval on Nov. 19 and on Dec. 18 Olmert and the defense minister "met at IDF headquarters in central Tel Aviv to approve the operation."
This was three days before Olmert came to Ankara to discuss Turkey's help in the Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations. The meeting between the Turkish and Israeli premiers took some five-and-a-half hours. Given Erdoğan's sensitivity about this issue, surely the Turkish prime minister asked for Israel's assurance that it wouldn't attack Gaza. It seems he received the answer he asked for.
But on Dec. 25, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni went to Cairo upon Hosni Mubarak's invitation to speak about a renewed cease-fire, and informed him, according to the Haaretz article, about Israel's decision to hit Hamas.
Egypt was informed, and Turkey was deceived. That is my reading of the displeasing situation that Turkey finds itself in, and it seems that Erdoğan shares this reading.
The fact that Turkey was deceived hurts, indeed, but compared with the pain of watching the human drama imposed upon the people of Gaza, it is negligible. Compared with the fact that Israel is deceiving itself, its people and its allies, it is a small deception.
Barak has already said that the operation will be a long one. Israeli defense commanders say they are aiming for the maximum number of enemy casualties. Within this aporia of "we will show them," the existence of civilians, women and children in the Gaza Strip is reduced to "complexities and difficulties." Well, these "complexities and difficulties" will turn into a breeding ground for new militants and future dedicated supporters of Hamas. Hamas has the capacity of replacing its assassinated leaders in the shortest time possible; it has the capacity of producing weapons under the most primitive of conditions; it has the capacity to turn hatred into enrollees; it has the capacity to reach to the innermost regions of Israel; and it has the capacity to turn any Palestinian walking in the streets without any ideological indoctrination into a suicide bomber within hours.
Hamas is practically inextinguishable. "We will teach them a lesson" is self-deception. The only lesson Hamas has taken within the last two years is this: To be elected is not enough to be listened to… To make a truce is not enough to lead a decent life…
Another self-deception is "Hamas has started this." This is like the "chicken or the egg" dilemma; who started Hamas in the first place. This stupid vicious cycle of questions can go back to the illegal Jewish settlements in Palestine and even to the Roman villain Titus, who exiled the Israelites from the Holy Land 2,000 years ago. "This or that part started this" means, "I don't want to do anything about this," and that is exactly what the US State Department is doing right now.
