Hidden Israel Backers Will Be Exposed

A few days ago, something caught my eye in the Israeli press. The report said: “Israel’s Diaspora Ministry is planning to launch a campaign against Qatar and Türkiye.” Any details about what kind of campaign? None. But this is the sort of development that could end up exposing hidden pro-Israel actors. I’ll explain how in a moment. First, let’s lay out the picture.

One. Israel has lost the global perception war. It’s isolated. Beyond the U.S. and a handful of countries, no one is standing with it. Even in Western capitals, Netanyahu is increasingly described as a “deranged leader.” His team’s thinking is simple: as long as the U.S. stays with us, we’re fine. It was already revealed that Tel Aviv was secretly running multimillion-dollar influence campaigns targeting American politicians—funded by the Diaspora Ministry.

Two. Türkiye’s era of ‘precious loneliness’ is over. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine changed the equation. Brussels now sees Ankara as part of Europe’s security architecture. (Macron even said: “I told Erdoğan that France is ready to work on an ambitious bilateral agenda with Türkiye.”) Washington’s “strategic and regional talks” with Ankara, which began under Biden, are becoming more concrete under Trump in the Middle East, Caucasus, Balkans and Africa. And Arab News, the Saudi-based outlet, recently argued that as Israel has become an even greater threat after Gaza, the Arab world is drawing closer to Türkiye.

Three. The shift in Damascus has also altered the balance. With Iran weakened, Israel is seeking to outmaneuver Türkiye and claim sole dominance in the region. But it faces two big sticking points with Ankara. First, Gaza. Türkiye has kept the two-state solution on the international agenda, helping institutionalize it with the New York Declaration. Every new recognition of Palestine is a strategic loss for Tel Aviv. Second, Syria. Israel wants to carve it up, but Türkiye stands in the way.

The sub-factors can be multiplied, but these last two are the most relevant—because they’re precisely where Israel is likely to direct its fire.

The Three Pillars of Israel’s Strategy

If Israel does roll out a campaign against Türkiye, its likely aims are:

1. To isolate Türkiye. Expect heavy resources to be poured into painting Ankara as “unreliable” within the Western camp. By twisting facts, they’ll harp on Türkiye’s ties with Russia and try to disrupt the current positive climate with the West. Latest example: 40 U.S. senators wrote to Secretary of State Rubio urging against F-35 sales to Türkiye. Rubio replied that Washington’s stance hasn’t changed.

2. To erode Türkiye’s image. They’ll brand Ankara’s genocide accusations as “anti-Semitic” or “Islamist.” They’ll seek to link Türkiye to “radical groups,” as they’ve long tried with Hamas. That narrative has lost traction under the shadow of genocide, so now they’re pushing it onto Syria—pointing to Ahmet Şara and calling him “Colani” to highlight his HTS background. Similar framing could surface in any flare-up with the SDF or regarding Türkiye’s presence in Africa. Cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns designed to leak and distort Türkiye’s strategic moves will almost certainly be part of the playbook.

3. To shrink Ankara’s room for maneuver regionally. Their cooperation with Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration is nothing new. But Syria is the critical front. Israel’s behind-the-scenes lobbying pushed Trump’s Syria envoy Barrack into softening his stance—from a “central government” approach toward something more decentralized. That signals a shift in U.S. policy. Reports suggest Syria and Israel may sign a border-security agreement in New York this September. Details are unclear, but if Israel gets its way in Sweida, the SDF could be emboldened. Note the SDF negotiator Bersum’s claim that Damascus wants to dismantle all state institutions and that talks have collapsed. Also worth noting: a Kurdish-Jewish congress planned for Berlin in September.

The Silver Lining

Of course, deeper scenario planning can be done to forecast Israel’s moves. And it’s worth debating. Because there’s one upside to this “impending campaign”: it will make Israel’s networks more visible.

Past experience shows how these operations work: conventional Western outlets and journalists as megaphones, covert social-media accounts to spread disinformation (Türkiye must remain alert to efforts to inflame internal divides), and think tanks paid to publish reports. That will likely be their first move again.

Which is why we need to closely track every disinformation piece, hostile article, commentary, report, or social-media campaign about Türkiye. In doing so, we’ll be mapping Israel’s fifth column in real time.