{"id":303276,"date":"2026-02-21T18:53:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T18:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/303276\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T18:53:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T18:53:10","slug":"gaza-butterfly-effect-us-mediates-israel-turkey-rapprochement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/303276\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Gaza butterfly effect’: US mediates Israel-Turkey rapprochement"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Trump administration is attempting to mediate between Israel and Turkey in an effort to restore normalized relations, a senior official involved in the Gaza Board of Peace initiative<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs there is quiet and success on the Palestinian front, the barometer of relations with Turkey will improve,\u201d the senior council official said. \u201cIt could go very far. We may be na\u00efve, but we are not imagining things.\u201d<\/p>\n

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2 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"<\/a>\"<\/p>\n

(Photo: Flash 90, REUTERS\/Mohamed Abd El Ghany,Ludovic MARIN\/AFP)<\/p>\n

The official said Washington believes ties between Israel and Turkey can be rehabilitated despite years of strained relations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a good history with Turkey, and the goal is to restore that past. It is not lost,\u201d the official said. \u201cWhat most disturbs the Turks \u2014 what frightens and angers them \u2014 is the Palestinian issue and Gaza. The calmer the situation, the greater the chance of restoring relations to normal, bringing back trade, returning ambassadors and reviving tourism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Americans are trying to mediate, and there is a chance it will succeed,\u201d the official added.<\/p>\n

Broader regional effort<\/p>\n

According to the official, U.S. mediation efforts extend beyond Turkey. Behind the scenes, Washington is also working to warm relations between Israel and Egypt and Jordan.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeace with Egypt could move onto a very positive track and warm in a historic way,\u201d the official said, pointing to what was described as goodwill from Egypt\u2019s representative on the council, intelligence chief Hassan Rashad. \u201cHe is really helping.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior figures involved in the initiative referred to what they called the \u201cGaza effect,\u201d arguing that stabilization and success in Gaza could generate wider diplomatic gains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe indirect benefit is warming what can be done with Egypt, including the gas agreement, which is a small example of the potential,\u201d the official said, also citing \u201cpotential with Jordan, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of these things are tied to success in Gaza. I speak with heads of state,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n

The official described the potential impact as a \u201cbutterfly effect.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSuccess in Gaza is a \u2018butterfly effect\u2019 that is hard to grasp,\u201d the official said. \u201cIt can affect the entire Palestinian issue and the international damage to Israel. There was diplomatic spiraling in many places. That spiral has been halted and improved. The entire trend can be turned in a positive direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conditions and additional outreach<\/p>\n

Officials involved in the initiative said there is also potential to improve relations with Indonesia, which they noted has deployed 8,000 troops to the International Stabilization Force in Gaza and could send more if needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is great potential with Kazakhstan, which wants to significantly elevate relations with Israel,\u201d one official said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Hamas disbands voluntarily, it will be very difficult to stop this speeding train,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n

Diplomatic interactions in Washington<\/p>\n

At the reception marking the first convening of the Gaza Board of Peace in Washington, officials described positive interactions between Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and foreign ministers from Arab and Muslim countries that do not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cSa’ar spoke with everyone in a substantive and positive manner. There were handshakes. It looked natural,\u201d an official said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Trump administration is attempting to mediate between Israel and Turkey in an effort to restore normalized relations,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-303276","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}