Ben Caspit : L'appello del presidente israeliano a Erdogan potrebbe andare oltre il rilascio dei detenuti

 traduzione sintesi

Natali e Mordi Oknin, arrestati dalla polizia turca il 9 novembre per aver fotografato il palazzo presidenziale di Istanbul, sono tornati in Israele il 18 novembre. Ma la strada per il loro rilascio e riportarli a casa è stata a dir poco una saga.

Gli alti funzionari del ministero degli Esteri israeliano hanno trascorso diverse ore ansiose nella notte tra il 17 e il 18 novembre. Sebbene sollevati dal fatto che la coppia israeliana fosse stata rilasciata, non avevano idea di dove fossero stati portati i due. "Abbiamo cercato di raggiungerli il più velocemente possibile, ma abbiamo fallito", ha detto ad Al-Monitor una fonte diplomatica israeliana di alto livello a condizione di anonimato. "Ci è stato detto che erano stati portati in una stazione di polizia, ma Istanbul ha dozzine di stazioni di polizia".

I diplomatici israeliani si sono trovati a correre per la città verso diverse stazioni di polizia cercando di localizzare gli Oknin, la cui detenzione altamente pubblicizzata aveva trasformato gli autisti di autobus marito e moglie, in visita in Turchia ,in eroi popolari e combattenti per la libertà a casa.

I due sono stati trovati sani e salvi, condotti all'aeroporto e trasportati su un jet privato inviato dal governo israeliano all'aeroporto internazionale Ben-Gurion, dove li attendeva un benvenuto euforico e lacrimoso. La scena ricordava i precedenti ritorni a casa degli israeliani imprigionati all'estero .

I tre principali leader israeliani si sono rapidamente mobilitati per gestire la vicenda e contenere il suo potenziale danno alle relazioni con la Turchia, al turismo e al commercio tra i due paesi e all'immagine del nuovo governo israeliano. Il primo ministro Naftali Bennett ha lavorato a stretto contatto con il ministro degli Esteri Yair Lapid insieme al presidente Isaac Herzog. Si è buttato nella mischia anche il nuovo capo del Mossad israeliano David Barnea, che ha immediatamente contattato la sua controparte turca.

 La telefonata tra i due presidenti è durata 45 minuti ed è stata descritta come particolarmente amichevole. Erdogan ha mostrato calore, ottimismo e ha parlato della necessità di ripristinare gli ambasciatori dei due paesi e migliorare il livello di cooperazione tra i due stati. Sebbene il ruolo del presidente israeliano sia in gran parte cerimoniale, Erdogan stava chiaramente provando a sondare le prospettive di tornare nelle grazie di Gerusalemme – e forse anche in quelle degli Stati Uniti.

Herzog era entusiasta. La Turchia è stata un alleato di Israele fino a quando Erdogan è salito al potere nel 2003. Oltre alla sua conversazione con Erdogan, Herzog ha rilasciato una serie di osservazioni pubbliche su una nuova pagina nelle relazioni con la Turchia . Si è parlato di un incontro tra loro a New York a margine della riunione dell'Assemblea generale dell'Onu, che non è andata a buon fine, e di altre iniziative. Queste potenziali ramificazioni servirono a raffreddare l'entusiasmo di Herzog e le relazioni sembravano tornare alla loro normale normalità, fino a quando gli Oknin non volarono a Istanbul.

La risposta era corretta. Erdogan ha consegnato la merce, mostrando logica, flessibilità e umanità. Subito dopo lo sbarco degli Oknin, Herzog ha chiamato Erdogan, seguito da Bennett, il cui ufficio ha detto che era la prima telefonata tra Erdogan e un primo ministro israeliano dal 2013. Lo hanno anche ringraziato pubblicamente. Ora resta da vedere come si svilupperanno i rapporti. La crisi servirà da catalizzatore per ricreare il rapporto di un tempo? Probabilmente no. A breve termine si può prevedere un disgelo e un ritorno degli ambasciatori richiamati nel 2018. A medio e lungo termine non si sa. Con Erdogan alle elezioni del prossimo anno, tutte le scommesse sono saltate

Israeli president’s call with Erdogan may go beyond detainees’ release

Natali and Mordi Oknin, detained by Turkish police Nov. 9 for photographing the presidential palace in Istanbul, arrived back to Israel Nov. 18. But the road to their release and bringing them home was nothing short of a saga.

Senior Israeli Foreign Ministry officials spent several anxious hours on the night of Nov. 17-18. Although relieved that the Israeli couple had been released, they had no idea where the two had been taken. “We tried to get to them as fast as possible, but we failed,” a senior Israeli diplomatic source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. “We were told they had been taken to a police station, but Istanbul has dozens of police stations.”

The Israeli diplomats found themselves racing around the city to different police stations trying to locate the Oknins, whose highly publicized detention had turned the husband-and-wife bus drivers on a visit to Turkey into instant folk heroes and freedom fighters back home.

With Israelis riveted by the story and the family’s teary interviews, what threatened to turn into a modern-day Dreyfus affair had a happy end. The two were found safe and sound, driven to the airport and flown on a private jet sent by the Israeli government to Ben-Gurion International Airport, where a euphoric, tearful welcome awaited them. The scene was reminiscent of previous returns home by Israelis imprisoned abroad.

The affair, which followed shortly after the Turks exposed what they called a "Mossad spy ring" operating in their country, threatened to derail the already brittle Ankara-Jerusalem relationship. Instead, the couple’s release appears to have hit the restart button for the relationship.

It all began when the two Egged bus company drivers from the central Israeli town of Modi’in traveled to Turkey to celebrate her birthday. They went up to the observation deck of the Istanbul Communications Tower, a popular tourist spot with its panoramic views over the city, snapping a photo of the presidential palace visible in the distance. They then asked a waitress whether that was indeed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s palace, circled the building in the photo, and posted the snap on their family WhatsApp group to show the folks back home. Turkish police confronted them immediately, demanding to see the photo, setting off a saga that threatened to veer out of control when the prosecution announced it was going to charge the Israelis with “diplomatic and military” espionage.

Israel’s top three leaders quickly mobilized to handle the affair and contain its potential damage to relations with Turkey, tourism and trade between the two countries, and the image of Israel’s new government. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett worked closely with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid alongside President Isaac Herzog. The new head of Israel’s Mossad David Barnea was also thrown into the fray, immediately contacting his Turkish counterpart. The Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, contacted one of Erdogan’s closest aides. “Once we managed to get to Erdogan’s most intimate inner circle, we understood that the prospects of resolving this crisis quickly had improved,” a senior Israeli diplomatic source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity.

On July 12, shortly after Herzog was sworn in as Israel’s 11th president, he received a surprising phone call from Erdogan, who has made Israel his permanent personal punching bag over the past decade and more. The call between the two presidents lasted 45 minutes and was described as particularly friendly. Erdogan displayed warmth, optimism and spoke of the need to reinstate the two countries’ ambassadors and upgrade the level of cooperation between the two states. Although the Israeli president’s role is largely ceremonial, Erdogan was clearly putting out feelers to gauge prospects of returning into Jerusalem’s good graces — and perhaps into those of the United States, as well.

Herzog was keen. Turkey had been an Israeli ally until Erdogan came to power in 2003. In addition to his conversation with Erdogan, Herzog issued a series of public remarks about a new page in relations with Turkey. There was talk of a meeting between them in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting, which did not pan out, and of other initiatives. In Nicosia and Athens, officials watched this budding romance between their sworn enemy and relatively new ally with barely veiled suspicions, which they conveyed to their Israeli counterparts. These potential ramifications served to cool Herzog’s enthusiasm, and relations seemed to return to their cool normal — until the Oknins flew to Istanbul.

Following their detention, Lapid launched a flurry of intense diplomacy, under a full blackout. He knew that media attention would force Turkey onto a high horse from which it would be hard to come down. Bennett and Lapid decided to avoid mobilizing a third party, such as the United States, to avoid public statements and refrain from bad mouthing the Turks.

Furthermore, they decided to focus on the inroads they had made into Erdogan’s close circle. Barnea, meanwhile, sent his Turkish counterparts ample proof that the couple were simply ordinary tourists employed as bus drivers. A promotional clip featuring the Oknins, produced a few years ago by the bus company, was unearthed and posted on the internet. Bennett and Lapid, followed by Herzog, gave the Turks their word, through public and private channels, that the two were not spies. The point was to obtain their release before they were charged.

Israel insists there was no quid pro quo. “We made them realize that the continued saga would cause them and us grave damage. The key was to convince them that the couple were indeed tourists. The minute they understood that this was a misunderstanding and a coincidence with Kafkaesque potential, most of our work was done,” the diplomatic source said.

The incident also exposed fascinating aspects of domestic Turkish politics. At one of the discussions in Bennett’s office, the prime minister asked, Who is in charge, the interior minister responsible for the arrest, or President Erdogan? He was told that while the minister was managing the event, the Israelis would be freed should Erdogan decide to do so.

The answer was correct. Erdogan delivered the goods, displaying logic, flexibility and humaneness. Immediately after the Oknins landed, Herzog called Erdogan, followed by Bennett, whose office said it was the first call between Erdogan and an Israeli prime minister since 2013. They also thanked him publicly. It now remains to be seen how relations unfold. Will the crisis serve as a catalyst to recreate the relationship of old? Probably not. In the short term, a thaw can be expected and a return of the ambassadors recalled in 2018. In the medium and long-term, there is no knowing. With Erdogan facing elections next year, all bets are off.