It is hard to find Israeli leaders commenting on Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist who disappeared (and was apparently murdered) in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul Oct 2. Cabinet ministers, members of Knesset and officials in the Foreign Ministry — they all avoid the subject like the plague.

That’s because Israel is caught between two polar extremes that suddenly turned upside down. On the one hand, it is an ally of Saudi Arabia, and on the other, its bitter rivalry with Turkey is legendary. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is seen in Israel as an almost liberal reformer, who is leading his country toward a new era, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is regarded as a benighted dictator, who jails journalists and suppresses democracy. And now that’s all turned upside down. In the Khashoggi incident, the Saudis are the villains, while Erdogan is having his turn as a mature and enlightened leader who shows responsibility and defends democracy. It is the exact opposite of how things usually are — at least from an Israeli perspective.

It’s the Saudis who come out looking like blood-thirsty murderers, who have no qualms about killing a journalist inside their consulate. But they are also sloppy amateurs who leave plenty of incriminating evidence behind. The Turks didn’t even have to try hard when they put together all the pieces of this grisly story. And all that's left for Israel to do is to remain quiet and take comfort in the fact that US President Donald Trump’s situation is even worse, as he does not have the luxury of keeping quiet on this.

On Oct. 16, Israel's public broadcasting corporation Kan reported that Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot held an informal meeting with his Saudi counterpart Gen. Fayyadh al-Ruwaili at a gathering of chiefs of staff in the United States. As one diplomatic source in Jerusalem told Al-Monitor, “The Saudis have to make a decision. They can’t have their cake and eat it too. They need to decide whether they want to draw closer to Israel, maintain an alliance with the United States and push through reforms, such as allowing women to drive, or whether they want to turn in the opposite direction and become a dictatorship propped up by the kinds of methods used to eliminate their opponents, which would put Russian President Vladimir Putin to shame." The source asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitive nature of the unofficial relationship between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and how they share many common interests.