Hurriyet Daily News, turkey
Jan 17 2010

Ayalon’s reaction to Turkish TV series was wrong, say experts

Sunday, January 17, 2010
BARÃ?IN YÄ°NANÃ?
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

There is a consensus of disapproval in Israel regarding Danny Ayalon’s
recent behavior toward Turkey, according to Israeli experts in
Turkish-Israeli relations.

After officially apologizing for his treatment of Turkish Ambassador
OÄ?uz Ã?elikkol at a meeting, Israeli deputy foreign minister has
threatened expulsion of the ambassador if `attacks continue against
Israel,’ according to new local reports.

`No one in Israel takes him seriously,’ Ofra Bengio, who is the author
of a book on Turkish-Israeli relations, told the Hürriyet Daily News &
Economic Review.

`He was pressured on TV and as a general statement he said any country
that will continue to attack Israel will get an answer and if there is
a need we will expel the ambassador. It was not directly related to
Turkey. That does not make it a clever statement. It is foolish in
this atmosphere,’ Alon Liel a former director general of the Israeli
foreign ministry told the Daily News in a telephone interview. `He is
making one mistake after another.’

Ayalon is under pressure from Foreign Minister Avidgor Lieberman,
according to Liel. Recalling that Lieberman announced two weeks ago a
`national pride’ policy based on counterattacking every attack, Liel
said Ayalon was under instructions from the minister to answer Turkey.
`The meeting with the Turkish ambassador was the first case study of
that policy. But you cannot run diplomacy in such a way. They are
unable to admit that the policy is a joke, and so they continue,’ he
said, noting that Lieberman is Ayalon’s boss twice over: as foreign
minister and as chairman of their political party.

Asked how a career diplomat like Ayalon acted in a way unseen in
diplomatic procedures, Liel said Ayalon became a politician nine years
ago. `He was sent as ambassador to Washington as a political appointee
and thus started his political career nine years ago. And on his
return he entered politics,’ he said. `He should have known better.
But sometimes politicians do not act like statesmen. Ayalon and
Lieberman have a constituency. They wanted to show their constituency
that they are angry at Turkey. But this is only damaging Israel.’

`I have never seen such a consensus over one issue. You cannot find
one person that does not criticize Ayalon’s behavior,’ Bengio said.
`We have a saying that if one silly person drops a stone in the water,
then even 100 wise men cannot take it out. This is how he is seen in
Israel.’

`He and the foreign minister are harming Israel,’ she said. `They
should leave office. But it is a coalition.’

While Bengio said it was natural for Israel to react to anti-Israeli
series broadcasted on Turkish television, she added that there are
other ways to show a reaction. `Ayalon’s way is not right. If you want
to react, you could ask the Turks how would they feel if there was a
pro-Kurdish or a pro-Armenian TV series shown in Israel,’ she said.