Israel Matzav

Kerry: Why can't we all just get along?

John Kerry on foreign policy reminds me of the Israeli Left on foreign policy: "We want an agreement. We have to have an agreement. Because we have to have an agreement, the other side has to agree. Therefore, there WILL be an agreement." Except of course that the other side won't reach an agreement with you unless you unconditionally surrender - a ridiculous posture given which side has won every war in this region.

Kerry is in Turkey now and he is on his way here. This is what he's come up with regarding the relationship between Turkey and Israel.

"It is important that Turkey and Israel renew relations and go back to the way they were," Kerry said.

Israel and Turkey built strong military and economic ties over the past 15 years, and Turkey became Israel's closest ally in the Muslim world.

Relations between the two soured, however, with Turkey's Islamic-oriented government's increasingly vociferous criticism of Israel's treatment of Palestinians. They hit an all-time low in May, when nine activists from Turkey were killed on board a Gaza-bound ship that tried to breach Israel's naval blockade.

Turkey has made an Israeli apology and compensation for the victims' families a condition for improved ties. Israeli commandos said they opened fire in self-defense after meeting what they called unexpected resistance when they boarded the ferry carrying aid supplies to Gaza.

Kerry said he understood Turkey's strong reaction to the incident, but said Israel "had acknowledged that some mistakes had been made."

He said he was confident tensions can be "put in a proper perspective" if the people of Israel and Turkey try and understand each other.

"I think it is entirely possible that we can move beyond the tensions," he said before a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Let's go to the videotape.

Labels: Israel, John Kerry, Kumbaya, Turkey

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:28 AM