MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

By YAAKOV KATZ – “It is easy to judge Israeli-Turkish relations by what we all can see – military exercises have come to an end and defense exports to what was once one of Israel’s best customers are almost completely frozen.

There is also, of course, the diplomatic fallout from the current crisis which makes Israel even more isolated in an already extremely volatile Middle East.

There are, however, greater ramifications that Israel does not yet know how and if they will play out.

For Israel, Turkey was more than just a country with airspace and waters in which to train. It was a partner in the war on terror and a confidant when it came to sensitive intelligence information regarding attacks against Israel or terrorist plans throughout the region.

One example was in 2009 when the media reported about the thwarting of terrorist plans to shoot down an Israeli airliner over Turkey with shoulder-to-air missiles.

The scheme was apparently an effort by Hezbollah to avenge the 2008 assassination of its military commander Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus, which the Lebanese guerrilla group attributed to the Mossad.

Other examples include the recent grounding of Iranian transport aircraft in Turkey earlier this year that were allegedly carrying weaponry destined for Hezbollah, and the seizure of some 300 Iranian rockets aboard a freight train on its way to Syria via Turkey in 2007.

There was also the alleged Israeli strike four years ago this month against the nuclear reactor President Bashar Assad was building in northeast Syria…

In short, Israel could be losing not only a diplomatic and military ally but also a partner in the war on terror.

This could mean that Israel will not have someone to pass on information to in the event that it knows of plans to perpetrate attacks in Turkey or elsewhere in the region, and that the Turks might no longer have as strong an interest in intercepting weapons shipments that may pass through their country on their way to Iran’s various terror proxies.” Read more.