Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan can hardly be called friends. Netanyahu’s departure from office June 13 should have been a jubilant moment for Ankara. For the first time an Arab Party, Ra’am, entered an Israeli coalition government, something giving Erdogan an opportunity to congratulate new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
But a diplomatic source from Ankara, speaking on the condition of anonymity the day Bennett was sworn in, told Al-Monitor, “Erdogan will miss Netanyahu. They were enemies with a lot of benefits.”