Belek, Antalya - It seems so appropriate that I’m here in Turkey just when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan make up. I came here for a family vacation, after giving countless explanations to friends as to why — and how dare I — visit a country that has become so hostile, and whose prime minister makes incessant verbal assaults against my own country.
As soon as I heard about the historic reconciliation, I went down to the lobby of my hotel in Belek and tried to work out my new status there. I wanted to know if there was any change in the way my Turkish hosts perceived me as an Israeli. Until yesterday [March 22], I was met with nervous chuckles and wayward glances whenever I introduced myself. That was what happened when my children and I shared an elevator with a guest in a tailored suit. We exchanged a few pleasantries, but when we reached our final stop, he asked, “Where are you from?”