The Turkish danger? Shin Bet hiring Turkish speakers

The Shin Bet recently published an advertisement recruiting people fluent in Turkish to come work for Israel's internal security organization inside Israel's borders, according to a report today (Wednesday) by Kann News.

Turkey has become increasingly belligerent towards Israel ever since October 7. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan refused to condemn Hamas while repeatedly attacking Israel for the war in Gaza and even joining with South Africa's "genocide" lawsuit against Israel in the Hague.

This hostility was also bolstered by Turkey's decision to end all trade with Israel until the war in Gaza is over, a decision reinforced by seeking to clamp down on the bypassing of that embargo via Palestinian intermediaries in Judea and Samaria.

However, until a few months ago, Turkey was not taken seriously as a major security threat to Israel due to the great geographical distance between the two countries. But the fall of Syria to Turkish-backed forces has changed this equation, and now increasing numbers of people are openly looking at how Turkey could threaten Israel directly.

The Israel-Alma Center, which regularly provides analyses of threats to Israel from countries to the north - specifically Lebanon and Syria - believes that Turkey could indeed pose such a threat in one of two possible ways: indirect support for Syrian forces as an anti-Israel proxy force, and direct use of long-range missiles and drone arsenals.

The Center argues that Turkey may use Syria as a hostile proxy force in much the same way as Iran uses and equips terrorist proxy armies around the Middle East - Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and others - while trying to officially maintain deniability. According to their analysis, this is vital to prevent the United States directly intervening with their NATO partner.

Turkey also possesses an increasingly large arsenal of long-range ballistic missiles, which it may use in the event it desires to clash with Israel over any number of pretexts. However, the Alma Center believes that at present, Turkey currently seeks to hold onto those missiles and is unlikely to hand them over to anyone else.

The option of Turkish ground forces directly moving south from Turkey to the Israeli border to threaten Israel from the north does not seem to be considered a real possibility, according to the analysis, though that may change depending on developments in the region.