This report, which draws largely on Israeli and third-party views, examines the relations between Israel and Turkey, concentrating on the state of economic, diplomatic, and security ties after the 2016 reconciliation between the two countries and the possible futures of these ties. Israel and Turkey have almost seven decades of relations, but even after the reconciliation, ties remain strained. While the Israeli and Turkish business communities would like to resume former levels of engagement, and there is interest in cooperation over natural gas, relations in the diplomatic and security spheres are tense because of distrust of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and differences between the countries over the future of Syria and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Any change, for better or worse, in Israeli-Palestinian relations, will have implications for the ties between Israel and Turkey, as demonstrated by the May 2018 diplomatic rift over the violent clashes in Gaza and the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.

This project is a RAND Venture. Funding was provided by gifts from RAND supporters and income from operations. The research was conducted by the Center for Middle East Public Policy (CMEPP) within RAND International Programs.

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