Turkish demands are unreasonable and an apology will not change the anti-Israeli policy of an increasingly authoritarian and Islamist Turkey. Israel’s reluctance to criticize Erdogan’s government is construed as weakness and Jerusalem should take off its gloves in dealing with Ankara.

Turkey's foreign policy reorientation – away from the West and toward Islamist countries like Iran and Syria – changes the balance of power in the Middle East, negatively affects the pro-Western orientation of the Central Asian republics, weakens NATO, and threatens the East-West energy corridor.

The flotilla affair is just another reflection of the change in Turkish foreign policy, which has acquired a greater Islamic coloration, bringing about a distancing from the West. Only a change of government in Ankara can bring Turkey back into the Western fold and restore the partnership between Ankara and Jerusalem.

The Turkish prime minister's escalating attacks on Israel during Operation Cast Lead are a calculated gambit on Erdogan’s part aimed at changing the balance of power in Turkey between his ruling religious Islamist party and the opposing military establishment.