Author: Josef Olmert, Ph.D.

MAHMOUD ABBAS, the president of the Palestinian Authority, has a once-in-a-year moment of self-gratifying glory: his speech to the UN General Assembly.

There is never a dull moment in Middle East politics, but the following is arguably beyond the pale. It has to do with a growing number of reports from various sources, Western, Arab, and Israeli, about peace signals and feelers sent by Syria to Israel.

It is arguably the case that there is never a dull moment in the Middle East, and this time it is all about the Biden Administration and its flurry of activity in the region. Donald Trump called Biden ‘’Sleepy Joe’’, but he could not be farther from the truth when it comes to the Middle East.

Turkey was another Middle Eastern country, alongside Iran, which from day one of Israel’s existence was regarded as a likely and desirable friend, possibly an ally, of the Jewish state. The story of the relationships between Israel and Turkey can be considered a typical Middle Eastern story in as much as it is based on a long historic legacy whose implications are felt to this very day.