Turkey and Israel face new tensions in Syria

The overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria has led to a standoff between Turkey and Israel, with both countries deploying troops to the country. As VOA's Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, analysts are warning of a new escalation between Turkey and Israel after relations were strained by the war in Gaza.

Turkey and Israel have deployed troops to Syria since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad. Analysts warn of a growing risk of a new regional confrontation after strained relations over the war in Gaza.

Voice of America spoke with analyst Gallia Lindenstrauss, who works at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

"Basically, Turkey is a neighbor to Israel to the north, which did not exist before. Israel fears that Syria will again be used to transfer weapons from Iran. So Israel needs to have forces in Syria, so the presence of Turkish forces in southern Syria will create a problem for Israel and a risk of confrontation."

An Israeli government report warns of this danger. The public support of Israel’s top diplomat, Gideon Saar, for the Syrian Kurds, whom Ankara considers terrorists, has further inflamed tensions. Israeli and Turkish leaders claim close ties with President-elect Donald Trump. Analysts say this would pose a difficult choice for the incoming president. Asli Aydintasbas is with the Brookings Institution, based in the US capital.

"The makeup of Mr. Trump's cabinet has a pro-Israel and pro-Netanyahu bias. The weak relations between Turkey and Israel will be problematic, especially in the US Congress. If you leave aside Mr. Trump's cabinet and the bureaucrats he has chosen, this group essentially believes that Turkey has a key role in the region."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking to play a role in brokering a ceasefire in Gaza.

While President-elect Donald Trump has strongly demanded the release of hostages from Hamas before he takes office on January 20, and progress on ending the war, this represents an opportunity for President Erdogan to strengthen his ties with the new American president.

Atilla Yesilada is a Turkey analyst with GlobalSource Partners.

"Assuming that Israel has won most of what it wanted in Gaza, Erdogan doesn't really have much reason to attack Israel every day, which would remove the most important obstacle to better Turkish-American relations."

A further catalyst for easing tensions would be the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Many expect Mr. Trump to resume an effort to do so.

"If Trump reaches a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, it will consequently have a positive effect on Israeli-Turkish relations. Because the normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia will have a Palestinian component and this would ease some of the tensions between Israel and Turkey over the Palestinian issue," says analyst Gallia Lindenstrauss with the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

Relations between Israel and Turkey had been improving before the Gaza war. But after Assad's fall, the armies of the two regional powers are facing off in Syria amid threats of further escalation of tensions./VOA