Israel News Net

Turkey was once a key ally to both Israel and the U.S. Today, under the leadership of Prime Minister Erdogan, Turkey is becoming  a leader of the Arab League.  Erdogan is at present the most popular man in the Muslim world for his vitriolic depiction of Israeli leadership. His ties with extremist Hamas are not comforting and his dinner invitations to Iranian president Ahmadinejad are even more unsettling.

This geographic crossroads in no longer a mediating presence between East and West – today Turkey is representative of the East, and an extreme East at that. The Erdogan government is becoming increasingly anti-sectarian, anti-democratic and anti-Israel. Where does this place them? Right in the forefront of Islamic Extremism.

What can be done about this? For one, the U.S. could stand in and invite Erdogan as a mediating force between Israelis and Palestinians, where the West Bank is taking pragmatic steps towards a two state solution. Diplomacy seems to be the best move to make in this global world, where isolationism foments extremism.

Meanwhile, the E.U. passed sanctions on Iran that are stronger than the U.N.’s expected restrictions. Israel is moderating their sanctions on Gaza in response to international criticism.

Here’s hoping that moderation infects the rest of the Middle East.

A new study appearing in last Thursdays’s Nature magazine, shows that Jews share many of the same genes. Duh, but really, we all have more in common than you think – especially among Ashkenazic and Sephardic groups of Jews, a genetic pool which shares about 30% European ancestry and the rest Middle Eastern.  It appears that Iraqi and Iranian Jews separated from each other about 2500 years ago, probably after the fall of the first temple.

Apparently, any two Jews are about as closely related as fourth or fifth cousins, which is ten times closer than the average two people taken off of a New York street. There is speculation that Ashkenazim arrived in Europe via Italy, where they intermarried with many locals. Italy was likely the bridge between Ashkenazim and Sephardim.  Language was hardly  a barrier – when Ancient and medieval Jews met, they always spoke Hebrew.

In other Middle Eastern news, sanctions on Iran have been approved, which can allow Israel to breathe a sigh of relief. Turkey continues to play their eastward game, but the new sanctions show that even countries in a seat of power – Brazil and Turkey – do not have the authority vested in them to make global decisions.