Israel's deputy foreign minister deliberately insults Turkish ambassador, then brags.

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Israel's deputy prime minister has received the Turkish ambassadress over a Turkish tv series that cast Israeli Mossad agents in an unfavourable lights, as child abductors, complaining that the Turkish government didn't ban the series from screening on a private channel. That in itself would be just a byline of Middle Eastern politics, wasn't it for the 'how'.

Israel's deputy foreign minister deliberately insulted the Turkish ambassador, - and then went on to a press conference bragging about it, and providing a photo, with a comment along the line: See, no Turkish flag, we place him in lower seat and we are not smiling! And god did we berate him! Brilliant diplomacy! Just capital B Brilliant! And what a tough bunch you people are!

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The glorious idea of placing the Turkish ambassador in the lower chair, i.e. a position of inferiority, is particularly striking. It reminds me of the seat scenes with Adenoid Hynkel and Benzini Napaloni in Chaplin's The Great Dictator (on 3:50 and 6:35 respectively).

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It is so very telling that once again reality beats already biting satire.

What's that, adolescent clowns running the Israeli Foreign policy? The practical execution appears to be the brainchild of former Israeli ambassador to the US, Danny Ayalon. His boss Avigdor Liebermann supports this, and Netanyahu supports it 'in spirit but not execution'. Only one who is unhappy appears to be defence minister Ehud Barak, because his military likes their good relations with the Turkish generals, which have suffered as a result, and that right before he had to go to Turkey for talks. There is talk that Liebermann wants to torpedo Barak's mission. If that is so, he has achieved a resounding success.

One wonders what exactly Israel's leadership was thinking when they decided to insult their greatest ally in the Middle East so cavalierly. But then, who can say on what whim these teenagers act next? Ooh shiny, and off they go ...!? And who needs allies anyway, especially in Israel's neighbourhood?

 

The meeting I understand, including the pictures. It's stupid and immature, but it's also politics. The bragging about it, the publicly announcing what you did, is just plain childish, though. And I mean that, it's the kind of thing a 10-year-old would do, not a grown adult, and definitely not an experienced statesman. What were these people thinking?

 

NOG,
Israel probably can live with stupid and immature and childish to a certain extent - but this is self-destructive.

Out of kindergarten, there is a price to pay for such behaviour.

 

Absolutely, Ragusa. The slight to the Turkish ambassador was survivable, probably with nothing but minor political costs. Making it public with photos would be more costly, but still probably not that big of a deal. A stupid, needless controversy, but this is the Middle East we're talking about. The public announcement and flaunting of it, well, that's going to cost someone big time. I'm just wondering if it will be specific politicians, or Israel as a whole.

 

Danish embassies was torched in Iran, Lebanon, and Syria.

That's Diplomacy in certain kind of places in Middle East.

 

Of course it will cost Israel as a whole. This is the Israeli government acting after all, and not some motley circus troupe. Netanyahu's crew have apparently consider to up the ante and to also expel the Turkish ambassador.

It is by now quite obvious that Netanyahu's government has decided to pursue a policy of tension with Turkey. That means Israel under their leadership has decided to not be constructive towards Turkey but to expect Turkey to yield to Israel's demands. And domestically their stalwart defence against foreign insults may pay off well, too. It certainly will appeal to the nationalist circles and Liebermann's party.

Who knows, maybe they have decided to test how valuable the Israeli-Turkish relationship is to the Turks. If so, they ought to be careful, they might not like the answer. Some questions are better left unasked, especially in such a pointed way. Of course, they might also try to test how valuable the Israeli-Turkish relationship is to the Americans. Or both.

 

All of this is over one private TV show portraying someone in poor light? Even if it's flat our slanderous, that's no reason to even consider expelling ambassadors. At this point, i have to wonder if something else isn't going on behind the scenes.

 

Are you suggesting that the Israelis are being secretly reasonable? Or are you hoping?

 

I realize they've been some kind of idiot in the past, but this would be something else, wouldn't it? I mean, it's one thing to shoot yourself in the foot, but it's another to shoot yourself in the knee.

 

That chair crisis was really weird. It is still being discussed on TV channels here. I think both sides did mistakes.

TV series which caused all these is really racist, I haven't seen its latest episodes but I was watching it a few years ago. It was the most popular TV series here but it started to become more racist and more mafia-admiring with each episode.

And these Israeli buffoons (Ayalon and his friends) created the most stupid scandal I've ever seen. I think Israel needs intelligent diplomats, not comedians.