A brief encounter at Jerusalem’s Jaffa Gate turned confrontational Sunday when two Turkish tourists responded to an Israeli man who had come to greet visitors to the Old City by shouting, “This is my home. You are welcome.”
The exchange was captured on video and quickly drew attention because it came against a broader backdrop of concern in Israel over Turkey’s efforts to deepen its influence in Jerusalem, Gaza and the Palestinian arena.
‘This is my home’: Turkish tourists confront Israeli man at Jerusalem’s Jaffa Gate
In July, ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth reported on an official 769-page book published by the Turkish Presidency’s Directorate of Communications titled Our Palestinian Cause. The book portrays Israel as committing “genocide and war crimes,” presents Zionism as the root of the conflict and includes a chapter quoting senior Hamas officials under the heading “The struggle against Israeli oppression.”
A recent report by the Jerusalem Center for Applied Policy, or JCAP, which examined the publication, argued that Turkey’s strategy does not center on direct military confrontation with Israel. Instead, it focuses on diplomatic, legal and public influence.
According to the report, those efforts include promoting legal proceedings against Israel in international courts, applying political pressure and expanding Ankara’s role in Palestinian affairs.
The struggle over Turkish influence is also playing out around the future of Gaza. Turkey is seeking a significant role in shaping the postwar arrangement in the Strip, while Israel opposes the inclusion of Turkish troops in any international force that could eventually operate there.
Against that backdrop, the exchange at Jaffa Gate offered a much more direct expression of the tensions surrounding influence, sovereignty and identity in Jerusalem.
Former Israeli ambassador Ran Yishai, head of research at JCAP, said the incident was not the first in which Turkish tourists had displayed what he described as a false sense of ownership in Jerusalem.
“The incident at Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem, which is not the first of its kind in which Turkish tourists walk around Jerusalem with a false sense of ownership inspired by Erdoğan’s conduct, further illustrates the need to implement the recommendation to deny visas to Turkish tourists entering Israel until relations between the two countries are based on an updated framework,” Yishai said.
He said that framework should begin with Turkey canceling arrest warrants issued against senior Israeli officials and ending its support for legal action against Israel at international courts.
JCAP chairman Haim Silverstein went further, saying Turkish Islamist tourists posed a danger.
“The Islamist tourists from Turkey are dangerous and incited against Israelis,” he said. “This group should be removed immediately from Israeli territory, and the sooner the better.”