Netanyahu and Erdogan. Israel is ignoring violations to as not to jeopardize the deal with Turkey
Photos: Emil Salman, AP
Turning a blind eye to deception
Op-ed: Hamas is still operating in Turkey with Turkish assistance, Iran is still enriching uranium, and the world - everyone from Israel to the US amd Europe - is keeping quiet about it.
The Turks are deceiving Israel, the Iranians are deceiving the world powers, and everyone is keeping quiet because it's convenient to keep quiet now. In the past, when terror initiated by Hamas from Turkey and the enrichment of the Iranian nuclear program were the most important issues to Israeli policymakers, the government did not hesitate manipulate, incite, and provoke public opinion. Today, it prefers to turn a blind eye. The silence of the lambs is an obligation.
Despite the understandings between Israel and Turkey – which ended the Marmara affair and led to renewed relations between the two countries – Hamas' military wing is still operating from Istanbul, with the knowledge that it is under the protection of the Turkish security organizations. Israel asked Turkey to close Hamas' office in Istanbul during negotiations between the two countries. The Turks refused, but clarified that the Hamas office would only deal with political issues.
The US administration is afraid that any pressure on Iran will harm the current regime led by Hassan Rouhani and affect his chances to be reelected in April (Photo: AP)
Indeed, Saleh al-Arouri, Hamas' senior representative in Istanbul and a member of the military wing, did move to Qatar, but those operating Hamas' branch in Istanbul instead of him are members of the military wing who were released in the Shalit deal.
The office in Istanbul keeps trying to build Hamas infrastructure in the West Bank, continues to collect money and send it to the West Bank for terror purposes, and is still recruiting volunteers – mostly Palestinian students studying in Europe – to establish terror cells in the West Bank. The initial screening of volunteers, their security clearance tests, and their basic training all takes place on Turkish soil, in buildings owned by Hamas. The attempted attack outside the Israeli Embassy in Ankara on Wednesday may have been an indication of Hamas' presence in the area.
Hamas is operating on Turkish soil cautiously and under a veil of secrecy. At the same time, Turkish organizations such as IHH, which was behind the Marmara sail, themselves have offices in Jerusalem. The representatives of these Turkish organizations are not only supporting religious and charity institutions in Jerusalem and dealing with Muslim tourism from Turkey; they are also involved in political Islamic movements in Jerusalem in a bid to increase Turkey's influence in the Israeli capital.
This bothers not only the local security forces, but also other countries in the area with clear interests at the Temple Mount. These countries have asked the Israeli government to put an end to this activity, but Israel is turning a blind eye so as not to jeopardize the agreement with Turkey.
The United States, which signed the nuclear agreement with Iran, is turning a blind eye as well, although it knows for certain that Iran is violating the agreement. Iran is allowed to produce 300 kilograms of enriched uranium to 3.6%, while UN inspections have revealed that it has already produced 330 kilograms without offering any explanation for the additional 10%. This isn't a dramatic deviation from the agreement, but well-informed sources say that Iran's mistake was intentional and done to examine global response to a violation.
Indeed, a report issued about two weeks ago by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) states that Iran is meeting the full requirements of the agreement. It appears that even the UN is showing leniency towards Iran – likely due to American pressure.
The violations don't just have to do with uranium. According to the Associated Press, European powers which were part of the agreement with Iran have delivered information to IAEA's Council of Governors that Iran is producing parts for advanced centrifuges, in violation of the agreement. It has barely been half a year, and the Iranians are already testing the limits.
The Institute for Science and International Security, led by former inspector of Iraq's nuclear program, David Albright, revealed about a month ago that Iran was evading some of the agreement's restrictions and reported that Congress had already received information from the American administration in January pointing out the violations. The administration is afraid, however, that any pressure on Iran will harm the current regime led by Hassan Rouhani and affect his chances of being reelected in April. Therefore, Washington is not just keeping quiet; it is also pressuring Israel and other countries in order to silence any complaint against the Iranian violations.
