Israel Invited to Open NATO Office; Move Made Possible by Turkey

In the latest sign that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has softened his hostility toward Israel, Erdogan is being credited with clearing the way for NATO to invite the Jewish state to open an office in the alliance’s Brussels headquarters and process credentials for the Israeli staff. In recent years, a Turkish veto prevented any formal interaction between NATO and Israel. Erdogan, who for some time allowed Turkey to play a key role as the secular Islamic state that served as a bridge between Israel and the Arab world, turned hostile toward the Jewish state. Then, in May 2010, following an incident where Israeli naval commandoes boarded a Turkish-flagged ship that set out to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and nine were killed in the ensuing violence, Erdogan’s hostility peaked and he arguably became the most vehemently anti-Israel voice in the region. Following years of negotiations, and after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu issued an apology and agreed to pay reparations to the families of those who died aboard the Mavi Marmara, and with the urging of the US administration, Erdogan’s tone has softened. An agreement is said to be close and signs such as the NATO invitation are reinforcing the belief that the worst of times between Israel and Turkey are over, in no small part because of the common threat of Islamic terror. A major stumbling point in talks — the Erdogan demand that Israel lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip — appears to have been resolved with an Israeli promise to scale it back.