*During a recent television interview with Tamir Hayman, Israel’s former military intelligence chief mentioned that Israel had hoped to pressure Tehran at the outset of the war it launched with the United States in late February by instigating a Kurdish insurgency inside Iran. Hayman claimed, however, that this “centerpiece” of a wider plan to bring down the Islamic Republic was thwarted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who persuaded U.S. President Donald Trump to abandon it. *
*While the Kurdish decision not to mobilize likely had multiple reasons, the anecdote points to a broader reality taking shape in the Middle East: Türkiye is increasingly acting as an obstacle to Israeli regional objectives. *
This dynamic is most visible in Syria, where the collapse of the Assad regime created both opportunities and risks for regional powers. While Israel has since sought to prevent the emergence of a consolidated central authority to preserve its maximum freedom of action, Türkiye has prioritized the restoration of a functioning Syrian state capable of stabilizing the country and limiting the spread of conflict. These competing objectives have transformed Syria into the principal arena of a growing Turkish-Israeli rivalry, with both sides also working to shape U.S. policy toward their own ends.
*Shortly after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Syria became the foreground of Turkish-Israeli competition. Israel moved quickly to expand its military footprint in southern Syria, ostensibly to establish a security buffer zone extending beyond its existing illegal occupation of the Golan Heights. In so doing, Israel restricted the deployment of Syrian armed forces to the south as it stoked sectarian tensions in the Druze-majority region, while also encouraging an Alawite insurgency against the Al-Sharaa government in the country’s west. *
In the northeast, Israel reportedly established discreet contacts with Kurdish factions, offering assurances of support. Israel’s air force also conducted strikes against Syrian military infrastructure, ports, and, in what was widely interpreted as a warning signal, government buildings in close proximity to the presidential palace in Damascus.
an increasingly hostile position toward Turkey.
At least eight Israeli airstrikes hit the Abu al-Duhur military air base in Syria’s northwest Idlib province, which is far from Israel’s border. According to Syrian media, the attack didn’t cause casualties.
“Israel and Syria agreed to a status quo in security matters, which Syria was on the verge of breaching by permitting Turkish troops to deploy at an airbase near Aleppo,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
The Israeli airstrikes prompted rare US criticism.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sharpened his confrontation with Israel, declaring this week that the struggle against Zionism is a matter of national survival for Turkey.
“The genocidal, occupying, expansionist ideology called Zionism threatens not only me, not only our party, not only our alliance — it threatens everyone,” Erdogan said. “When we struggle against Zionism, we are not waging this struggle for ourselves or for personal reasons. We are doing it for our own survival and for the survival of our nation.”
So far Israel has refrained from attacking Turkey.
I assume Turkey’s NATO membership has been the reason for that restraint.
Also Turkey has an alliance with Pakistan & Saudi Arabia in which an attack on one is an attack on all.
IF Israel does attack Turkey. The USA is obligated to defend Turkey.
The current US administration & the previous US administration has enabled Israel’s aggression in the Middle East.
Which way will the US jump if conflict between Turkey & Israel begins?