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Summary
The prime minister of Turkey, Israel's only ally in the Muslim world, on Wednesday branded the Jewish state the principal threat to peace in the Middle East.Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's remarks at a breakfast meeting in Paris marked a new low in deteriorating relations between Israel and Turkey, which once had close military and political ties. If a country uses disproportionate force in Palestine, in Gaza, uses phosphorous shells, we are not going to say 'bravo', he declared, referring to Israel's January 2009 offensive against Hamas-controlled Gaza. Operation Cast Lead, which was aimed at preventing rocket attacks by Gaza-based militants on Israel, left around 1,400 Palestinians dead and destroyed thousands of homes. Erdogan said Israel's justification for the offensive was based on lies and cited a report by UN investigator Richard Goldstone, a South African judge who accused both Israel and Palestinians of war crimes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit back at what he said were Turkey's repeated attacks. We are interested in good relations with Turkey and regret that Erdogan chooses time after time to attack Israel, he said at a Jerusalem news conference held to review his first year in office. Turkey is the only country in its immediate region to enjoy open military ties with Israel and has been a rare friend in the Muslim world, despite strong sympathy for the Palestinians among the Turkish public. Turkey's ties with Israel have suffered since Erdogan became prime minister in 2003 but this has accelerated since the Gaza offensive, which Turkey condemned. Turkey is currently a member of the UN Security Council, which will soon have to decide whether to follow French and US pressure to impose tougher penalties on Iran over its nuclear programme.At the Paris meeting, Erdogan pointed the finger at Israel's undeclared stock of nuclear warheads, arguing that the fact that it had not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) should not exempt it from international safeguards.
