Forecast Highs

Here is the full video from the Davos panel on Gaza where on Turkish PM Erdogan walking out at the end after the Israeli president gave him a dressing down he will never forget.

You can also watch it here:

Peres used the high profile forum, probably one of the most visible in the world, to deliver a speech to an increasingly hostile world that seems, to many Israelis, to be to be slowly deligitimizing Israel. In Israel, the latest war on Hamas was a justified response to eight years of terror and rocket attacks. To many outside of Israel, it is seen as an assault on Gaza’s impoverished population. Erdogan used the platform to shore up political points inside Turkey and the rest of the Arab world.

As Erdogan walked off, Arab League chief Amr Moussa embraced the Turkish PM.

Analysts say that Erdogan has taken an extremely anti-Israeli position so as to attract more votes from the Islamic bloc ahead of the Turkish elections.

The Jews of Turkey, or their official branch, have put out a statement basically telling everyone to leave them alone and not to rock the boat too much.

Hurriyet has a lot of interesting updates on how this story is playing out inside Turkey [good press review here], [an excellent opinion piece here] and in the rest of the world.

Hurriyet reports: Further support for Erdogan’s attitude towards Israeli President Shimon Peres during the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting came from Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi of Iran. Shirazi said Erdogan prevented a new war and contributed to peace. “If Nobel Prize authorities have a heart and courage, they present the Nobel Peace Prize to Erdogan,” he also said.

According to JTA: Israeli President Shimon Peres and Turkish Prime Minister Recip Erdogan spoke on the phone after a rancorous public falling-out.

“I am very sorry for what happened and friends could sometimes have an argument between themselves,” Peres told Erdogan during the telephone conversation, according to Ha’aretz. “I have always had a great respect for the Republic of Turkey and you as the prime minister. I consider myself as a friend of Turkey and Premier Erdogan.”

The two leaders fell out Thursday during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Erdogan had made the case that Israel and the international community must bring Hamas into negotiations because the group won legislative elections and controls the Gaza Strip. he also criticized Israel’s actions during the Gaza Strip war.

Peres delivered an emotional reply, accusing Erdogan of exaggerating Israel’s fault in its war with Hamas.

“Hamas participated in the elections, but they have a very unique idea about democracy,” Peres said. “They think a democracy is a story of one day in four years. You go through the elections. After the elections, you can start to shoot and kill and threaten. Finished. Democracy is not a matter of elections. It is a civilization.”

Erdogan wanted to reply, but David Ignatius, the Washington Post columnist moderating the discussion, cut him short, saying the session was over.

Erdogan accused Israel of “barbarianism,” gathered his papers and left the hall.

Upon returning to Turkey, where he faces elections, Erdogan said his departure was a matter of Turkish “esteem.” He was greeted by cheering crowds on his return to Istanbul late Thursday.

Here’s a video of Peres explaining his position on CNN:

Embedded video from CNN Video