Israel's President Isaac Herzog met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday afternoon. Erdogan told the media that he believed that “this historic visit will be a turning point in relations between Turkey and Israel. Strengthening relations with the State of Israel has great value for our country.”
Predictably, Islamic Jihad issued a statement saying that they "strongly condemned the reception of the head of the Zionist entity, Isaac Herzog, in Turkey."
Hamas' condemnation didn't mention Turkey, though. They merely said thsat Hamas "followed with great concern the visits of officials and leaders of the Zionist entity to a number of Arab and Islamic countries, the most recent of which was the visits of the President of the Zionist entity, Isaac Herzog to a number of countries in the region."
Echoing the Elder of Zion myth, Hamas called on regional Muslim countries into "not giving the Zionist entity the opportunity to penetrate the region and tamper with the interests of its people."
Hamas is very nervous. If Turkey desires closer relations with Israel - and it does, as its economy is in bad shape - then Israel can demand that Turkey minimize its ties with the largest Palestinian terror group. Hamas gets lots of aid from Turkey. But even Turkish media has been cooling towards Hamas over the past year.
Assuming that Turkish-Israeli relations do well, as they had in the past, Hamas could be out in the cold.
