RUTHFULLY YOURS

My column last weekend dealt with the travesty of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s apology to Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, under great pressure from President Obama, for Israel’s self-defense against Turkey-based jihadists who attempted to break its lawful blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza. Netanyahu not only apologized but added to the humiliation by agreeing to Erdogan’s demand that Israel compensate the “victims” of the 2010 confrontation. Nine jihadists were killed and several others injured when Israeli Defense Forces responded to the jihadists’ savage, premeditated attack on them. Erdogan, taking yet another page out of the playbook written by his friends at the Muslim Brotherhood, has pocketed Netanyahu’s apology while backtracking on any reciprocal commitment to normalize relations with Israel — and promptly announced that he’ll be taking a victory lap later this month in Gaza, where he’ll huddle with Hamas, the terrorist organization he supports politically and financially.

Now comes the latest indignity. According to the Turkish media, “activist” Mehmet Tunc, one of the “victims,” has announced that he will donate the compensation he receives from Israel to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), another violent jihadist pledged to Israel’s annihilation. [Thanks to Andrew Bostom for the heads up on this report from Hurriyet Daily News.]

Both Hamas and PIJ are formally designated foreign terrorist organizations under federal law. Supplying either of them with material support — the utterly predictable result of President Obama’s intercession on Turkey’s behalf — is a serious crime in the United States (or at least it is when the Justice Department chooses to prosecute it).

In other news, Erdogan, who has championed Iran’s development of nuclear power, is exporting gold to Iran in order to help the mullahs circumvent the economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and other Western governments. Meanwhile, the Obama administration is partnering with Erdogan to help Syrian “rebels” — led by the Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda — overthrow the Syrian regime … on the theory that this would be a major blow to Iran. Got that?

President Obama cites Prime Minister Erdogan as one of his most trusted partners in international affairs — one with whom he finds himself “in frequent agreement on a wide range of issues.”