At the very beginning of the conversation with the Turkish envoy, Ayalon refused to shake hands with the ambassador and told cameramen in Hebrew to focus on the fact that “he [Turkish Ambassador Ahmet Oğuz Çelikkol] is sitting on a lower chair… that there is only an Israeli flag on the table and that [they] are not smiling.”Well, looking at the photograph of that meeting, it is obvious that it is not the sofa of the ambassador that was lowered. In fact the chairs of the Israeli participants of the meeting were heightened to such a level that Ayalon and his friend were uncomfortably trying to balance themselves half lying down and half sitting on the chairs. This adds self-torture to insult. Ayalon wanted to insult the Turkish envoy so bad that he was ready to suffer to do so in the most outrageous manner.
Why did the Israeli deputy minister do that?
On the second day of the incident, Ayalon added stupidity to insult. “I do not think I went too far,” he said to the press. “Others will respect us only when we protect our honor.” We understand that Israeli honor is protected by chair heightening.
Pull the armlet, and you are more honorable! Thou shall respect the Israelis because they sit on elevated chairs.
But Danny, it is not where you sit that bothers the world. It is where you stand.
You are standing by the policies of your government with regard to the civilians of the Palestinian population living in Gaza and the West Bank. You are standing by the decision to build walls of separation in and around Israel, separating fathers from their children, isolating Israel from the outer world. You are standing by that foreign minister of yours who thinks that he can teach the world how to bow to the policies of Israel. With that political standing, you will always have only an Israeli flag on the table and you won’t be smiling.
What now?! Is the Turkish-Israeli partnership boat sinking?
The Turkish foreign minister replied to this question quite frankly: When the Israeli administration turns to a peaceful policy, our relations will start improving again. This is in line with the new ethical foreign policy Ankara has been employing. If you claim that your foreign policy is ethically motivated, you cannot remain unaffected by what is going on in Gaza. This has nothing to do with the claims that Turkey has been moving toward Iran in its foreign policy orientation. With the words of the Turkish prime minister, Turkey has widened its horizons and is trying to be active in a global manner. Iran is part of that world. Israel is also part of that world. The problem is that neither Iran nor Israel wants to be part of the same world. Both want to see Turkey adopt a stance on their side, excluding the other. This is asking Ankara to stay on the axis of either one of the parties. Ankara says it no longer belong to any camp. It has its own axis and that axis does not pass through Tehran or Tel Aviv. That axis passes through Ankara. Tehran seems to be more ready to accept the fact that Turkey is both a friend and critical of its policies. Tel Aviv, on the other hand, wants a Turkey that capitulates totally to Israeli positions.
“Be my friend! Don’t criticize me! Criticize Iran for the sake of our friendship even though you don’t feel any threat from Tehran!” This is a Hebrew sentence and has no translation into Turkish.
Having said all this, I have to admit that Israel fully had the right to protest against the Turkish TV series that depicted MOSSAD agents and some members of the Israeli diplomatic mission as “baby snatchers.” Foreign policy is no longer made in the corridors of foreign ministries. In an age of pop culture, TV producers should keep in mind that their products are no longer neutral artistic products. There are already enough documented crimes by Israeli intelligence and security forces that can be used for criticism. There is no need to exploit the feelings of the general public through fabricated “baby killing” and “baby snatching” scenes.
Just as Ayalon’s rude reception of the Turkish envoy undermines Israel’s right to protest, these kinds of exaggerated scenes undermine the rightfulness of artistic criticism of Israeli policies.
