"Erdogan with dreams of an empire": The new warning for Israel

Professor Uzi Rabi, from the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University, addressed on Wednesday in an interview with 103FM the recent IDF strike in Syria, Turkey's ambitions in the region, and the changes in the balance of power in the Middle East.

"Until yesterday, Israel was busy preventing Iran from operating its proxies in Syria. After the fall of Bashar al-Assad, it is no longer an Iranian stronghold, but exactly the opposite," said Rabi.

"The one trying to enter Syria with a very deep foot is Erdogan. Erdogan has great ambition, with many dreams of an empire, and if he enters an airport that sits seventy kilometers from the Syrian-Turkish border in Idlib - that is significant. We will eventually have to give the Middle East a signal that Syria will not become a Turkish colony."

According to him, the focus of Israeli concern is the possibility that Turkey will establish capabilities in Syrian territory that will limit the activity of the Air Force. "Turkey wants to take over an airport located in northern Syria. Taking over does not mean sending a plane to Syria and rehabilitating the Syrian Air Force, it means putting air defense batteries there against Israeli planes, and then you reduce Israel's aerial freedom of action in the Middle East," he said.

Rabi believes that Israel should act at an early stage to prevent deeper Turkish entrenchment. "This action is timely because you have to nip it in the bud. Erdogan is a very dangerous figure who is going to swallow more and more, and do not be surprised if he reaches Lebanon and also reaches Gaza," he said.

Later, Rabi addressed the changes in the structure of regional alliances and the decline in the trust of regional countries in Washington. "No one buys the promises of the United States anymore, everyone takes care of themselves and therefore there is a multiplicity of alliances here," warned Rabi. "If Saudi Arabia entered into an alliance with Pakistan and Turkey, then are the Abraham Accords over? In my opinion, that is not true. Unlike in the past, the countries feel very insecure. Israel needs to be smart, understand what is happening, be proactive and initiate. We are not talking about peace, we are talking about normalization where possible."

Rabi also addressed Hamas and Hezbollah and argued that a pause in fighting allows the organizations to strengthen again. "Hamas, like Hezbollah, the moment there is no intense war, it strengthens - and this is an axiom. These are resistance organizations, and there is no room or possibility here to reach a compromise with them because they do not want you," claimed the Middle East expert.

Regarding the situation in the Gaza Strip, he added: "In Gaza, you must not return even a gram of territory if we do not see receipts that Hamas is disarmed. Hamas will not disarm, it recruits sixteen-year-olds and it can bring in missiles and weapons."