{"id":19379,"date":"2010-06-01T16:19:54","date_gmt":"2010-06-01T13:19:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishforum.com.tr\/en\/content\/?p=19379"},"modified":"2023-04-04T18:47:16","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T15:47:16","slug":"u-s-israeli-ties-just-got-more-complicated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2010\/06\/01\/u-s-israeli-ties-just-got-more-complicated\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S., Israeli ties just got more complicated"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Raid on Gaza  flotilla could also take momentum away from Iran pressure<\/h2>\n<div>\n<div><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\ngetCSS(\"3053751\")\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><br \/>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"300\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"1%\"><\/td>\n<td width=\"*\">\n<div>Slideshow<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"300\">\n<tbody>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<div><input title=\"Launch\" onclick=\"javascript:SSOpen2('37435240\/ns\/news-picture_stories',null,null,null);\" onmouseover=\"swapbtn(this, 1)\" onmouseout=\"swapbtn(this, 0)\" type=\"button\" value=\"Launch\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div>  Anger  spreads<br \/>\n Israel&#8217;s raid of\u00a0the aid  flotilla sparked protests in several countries.<\/div>\n<p>more photos\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\ngetCSS(\"3053751\")\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><br \/>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"300\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"1%\"><\/td>\n<td width=\"*\">\n<div>Mideast\/North Africa video<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td width=\"80%\">\n<div><span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/8004316\/ns\/video\/\">MORE  VIDEO<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"300\">\n<tbody>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><strong>Israel  detains activists, ships from flotilla<\/strong><br \/>\n   While the U.N. condemns Israel\u2019s deadly  raid on a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza, the intercepted ships and the  pro-Palestinian activists aboard are being held in an Israeli port.  NBC\u2019s Tom Aspell reports.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div>\n <\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>By Glenn Kessler<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-srv\/front.htm\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div>updated 12:26 a.m. ET June 1, 2010<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n\t\tfunction UpdateTimeStamp(pdt) {\n\t\t\tvar n = document.getElementById(\"udtD\");\n\t\t\tif(pdt != '' &#038;&#038; n &#038;&#038; window.DateTime) {\n\t\t\t\tvar dt = new DateTime();\n\t\t\t\tpdt = dt.T2D(pdt);\n\t\t\t\tif(dt.GetTZ(pdt)) {n.innerHTML = dt.D2S(pdt,((''.toLowerCase()=='false')?false:true));}\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t}\n\t\tUpdateTimeStamp('634109631612400000');\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The worldwide  condemnation of the deadly Israeli assault on the Gaza aid flotilla will  complicate the Obama administration&#8217;s efforts to improve its tense  relations with Jerusalem and will probably distract from the push to  sanction Iran over its nuclear program.<\/p>\n<p>The timing of the incident is remarkably bad for  Israel and the United States. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and  President Obama were scheduled to meet Tuesday in Washington as part of a  &#8220;kiss and make up&#8221; session. The United Nations, meanwhile, was set to  begin final deliberations on Iran in the weeks ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Now the White House talks  have been scrubbed, Israel&#8217;s actions were the subject of an emergency  U.N. Security Council meeting Monday and the administration increasingly  faces a difficult balancing act as Israel&#8217;s diplomatic isolation  deepens.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast with forceful statements from  European, Arab and U.N. officials \u2014 and impromptu demonstrations from  Athens to Baghdad \u2014 the White House responded to the assault Monday by  saying only that Obama had held a phone conversation with Netanyahu in  which the prime minister expressed &#8220;deep regret at the loss of life&#8221; and  &#8220;the importance of learning all the facts and circumstances around this  morning&#8217;s tragic events.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Hours later, the State Department issued a statement  saying that the United States remains &#8220;deeply concerned by the suffering  of civilians in Gaza&#8221; and &#8220;will continue to engage the Israelis on a  daily basis to expand the scope and type of goods allowed into Gaza.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Even before Monday&#8217;s  incident, Israel was on shaky diplomatic ground. After the government  was accused of using forged foreign passports in the assassination of a  Palestinian militant in Dubai, Britain expelled an Israeli diplomat in  March. Australia did the same last week.<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>&#8216;Terrible for Israel-Turkey  relations&#8217;<\/strong><\/strong><br \/>\nThe latest furor may have caused irreparable  harm to Israel&#8217;s relations with Turkey \u2014 a Muslim state with which  Israel has long had close ties \u2014 because so many of those onboard were  Turkish. At the United Nations, Turkey&#8217;s foreign minister urged the  Security Council to condemn Israel&#8217;s raid and set up a formal inquiry to  hold those responsible for it accountable.<\/p>\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" align=\"left\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\ngetCSS(\"3088867\")\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/p>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"152\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"1%\"><\/td>\n<td width=\"*\">\n<div>Video<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"152\">\n<tbody>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div>\n<div><input title=\"Launch\" onclick=\"                   javascript:msnvBut(event);vPlayer('37438018','d18dbeb5-54ac-467a-9c5f-32d4774a1014');                  \" onmouseover=\"swapbtn(this, 1)\" onmouseout=\"swapbtn(this, 0)\" type=\"button\" value=\"Launch\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div>  Video  of raid<br \/>\nMay 31:       Israeli commandos rappelled from helicopters onto the lead boat, a  Turkish cruise liner carrying hundreds of activists. NBC&#8217;s Stephanie  Gosk reports.<\/div>\n<p>Nightly News<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&#8220;This  is terrible for Israel-Turkey relations,&#8221; Namik Tan, the Turkish  ambassador to the United States, said in an interview. &#8220;I am really  saddened by it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Tan,  who served as ambassador to Israel from 2007 through 2009, said  Israel&#8217;s actions demand condemnation from every country because the  flotilla incident took place in international waters and involved  civilians on a humanitarian mission. But he said the Obama  administration&#8217;s initial statement was wanting. &#8220;We would have expected a  much stronger reaction than this,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will  be in Washington on Tuesday to discuss Iran with Secretary of State  Hillary Rodham Clinton, but Turkey&#8217;s fury over the Gaza incident will  inevitably top the agenda.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator now at  the New America Foundation in Washington, said it&#8217;s not the first time  Israel has done itself a disservice.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Israel constantly claims it wants the world to focus  on Iran, but then it ends up doing something that gets everyone to  focus on itself,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>Focus on humanitarian situation<\/strong><\/strong><br \/>\nApart  from the raid, attention is likely to fall on the humanitarian  situation in the Gaza Strip, which has faced an Israeli blockade since  the Hamas militant group seized power three years ago. Although the  Obama administration has pressed quietly for less onerous restrictions  on trade, it has not questioned Israeli policies. Special envoy George  J. Mitchell has never visited Gaza in about a dozen trips to Israel and  the Palestinian territories.<\/p>\n<p>Without high-level attention, the situation in Gaza \u2014  a narrow coastal area with 1.5 million people \u2014 has faded from view.  Now that might change.<\/p>\n<p>Robert Malley, Middle East director for the  International Crisis Group, said Monday&#8217;s deaths were a consequence of  ignoring the &#8220;unhealed wound that is Gaza.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In condemning Israel&#8217;s actions Monday, European  Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton signaled that the European  Union would press anew for a shift in policy. &#8220;The E.U. does not accept  the continued policy of closure,&#8221; she said in a statement. &#8220;It is  unacceptable and politically counterproductive. We need to urgently  achieve a durable solution to the situation in Gaza.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>Click for related content<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/37438706\/ns\/world_news-mideastn_africa\/\">Arab  countries want tough\u00a0U.N. response<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/37423584\/ns\/world_news-mideastn_africa\/\">Bloody  Israeli raid on flotilla sparks crisis<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/37434486\/ns\/world_news-mideastn_africa\/\">Israeli  commandos describe raid<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/2010\/05\/31\/turkey-flotilla-for-gaza-intercepted-by-israel.html\">Newsweek:  Raid highlights failure of blockade<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/2010\/05\/31\/turkish-anger-a-problem-for-israel.html\">Newsweek:  Turkish anger a problem for Israel<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong><strong>&#8216;High on  Obama&#8217;s agenda&#8217;<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/strong>Malley said U.S. officials have told him  that the situation in Gaza &#8220;is very high on Obama&#8217;s agenda.&#8221; Obama  highlighted Gaza in his Cairo speech a year ago, saying, &#8220;Just as it  devastates Palestinian families, the continuing humanitarian crisis in  Gaza does not serve Israel&#8217;s security.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In that speech, Obama appeared to appeal to  Palestinians to undertake acts of civil disobedience rather than  violence, saying that it was &#8220;not violence that won full and equal  rights&#8221; for African Americans but &#8220;a peaceful and determined  insistence.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Whether the flotilla was an act of civil  disobedience remains up for debate. Its organizers said it was, but  Israeli officials said members of the Israel Defense Forces were met  with violence when they boarded the ships.<\/p>\n<p>Not only has the incident strengthened the Islamist  Hamas, it has probably weakened the secular Palestinian leadership on  the West Bank. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas quickly condemned the  attack as a &#8220;massacre,&#8221; but he will probably face new pressure to  abandon indirect talks with Israel.<\/p>\n<p>Iran, whose nuclear ambitions deeply concern Israeli  leaders, also is a beneficiary. Turkey holds one of the rotating seats  on the U.N. Security Council and was already deeply skeptical of the  U.S.-led push to impose new sanctions on the Islamic republic. But now  the council&#8217;s attention will be diverted by the Israeli assault.<\/p>\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>More  from msnbc.com<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/37402529\/ns\/business-careers\/\">Workplace  suicides in the U.S. on the rise<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/worldblog.msnbc.msn.com\/_news\/2010\/05\/31\/4442515-singing-sensation-helps-germans-shed-dull-image\">Teen  sensation helps Germans shed &#8216;dull&#8217; image<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com\/_news\/2010\/05\/28\/4384563-watch-the-oil-spill-as-it-changes\">Cosmic  Log: Satellites track spill&#8217;s growth<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/37353760\/ns\/nightly_news\/?ns=nightly_news&amp;ns=nightly_news\">Got  a tip about the oil spill investigation?<\/span><br \/>\nFollow BreakingNews on  Facebook | <span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/breakingnews\">Twitter<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div><em><em>\u00a9 2010 The Washington Post Company<\/em><\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Raid on Gaza flotilla could also take momentum away from Iran pressure \u00a0 Slideshow \u00a0 Anger spreads Israel&#8217;s raid of\u00a0the aid flotilla sparked protests in several countries. more photos \u00a0 Mideast\/North Africa video MORE VIDEO Israel detains activists, ships from flotilla While the U.N. condemns Israel\u2019s deadly raid on a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":782328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,43,148,155,56,34],"tags":[1280],"class_list":["post-19379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran_","category-iraq","category-israel","category-palestinianna","category-syria","category-usa","tag-pkk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/782328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}