Saturday, July 03, 2010

all is well between Turkey and Israel, Arab hopes to the contrary notwithstanding

"A military and government delegation from Turkey is in Israel right now, its officers and soldiers rumbling through the sands of the Negev learning how to operate the same pilotless aircraft often used by Israel to hunt Palestinian militants in Gaza. They are there, said an Israeli official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the deal, because the Israeli instructors who were training them in Turkey were called home after the flotilla raid.Still, the $190 million deal for the drones has not been canceled. Nor have most of the civilian business dealings, from textiles to irrigation systems, that accounted for almost $3 billion in trade last year, business analysts said. “Everything is according to schedule,” the Israeli official said. “There are no changes. It’s business as usual.”"