Turkish vs. Israeli Jets Over Syria: The Middle East Has A New Crisis Brewing

Ted Galen Carpenter

Source Link

Turkey and Israel Collide in Syria: Both Turkey and Israel have been on a short list of Washington’s closest allies for decades.

With Washington’s enthusiastic support, NATO made Turkey a member in 1952. US leaders regarded the country as the essential guardian of the Alliance’s southeastern flank during both the Cold War and post-Cold War eras. The United States and Israel have had a “special relationship” since the latter’s creation in 1948, and their foreign policy objectives have become ever closer over the decades. Washington has given Israel access to many of the most sophisticated weapons in the US arsenal.

Tensions Among Allies

However, tensions between America’s two close allies are rising, especially as they pursue directly conflicting objectives in Syria. In December 2024, a primarily Islamist rebel coalition led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) toppled Bashar al-Assad, whose family had ruled Syria for five decades.

Writing in Foreign Affairs, Middle East scholars David Makovsky and Simone Sandmehr note that HTS’s leader, Ahmed al-Shara, has taken charge of Syria, and foreign powers hope to steer his behavior. “Two of the country’s neighbors, Israel and Turkey, have taken advantage of the power vacuum by establishing a presence there—and have already begun to butt heads.” Makovsky and Sandmehr said, “Turkey has emerged as the dominant military power in Syria. Since 2019, HTS has held Idlib in Syria’s northwest, and for years, Ankara indirectly assisted it by operating a buffer zone in northern Syria that protected the group from Assad’s forces. Now Turkey wants even more influence in Syria.”

Unfortunately, Israel also wants more influence in Syria and does not trust that Ankara won’t exploit the power vacuum to support a new wave of Islamic militants under Ankara’s control. Makovsky and Sandmehr conclude that “Israeli leaders viewed Assad’s ouster as a strategic windfall and are racing to take advantage of his removal by establishing buffer zones and informal spheres of influence in southern Syria. Israel is particularly concerned by Turkey’s presence in the country because it fears that Ankara will encourage Syria to harbor anti-Israeli militants.”