Israeli tourists began cancelling their flights to Turkey last week following a serious deterioration in Israel-Turkey relations, reflecting a general decline in interest of Turkey as a top tourist destination. In an unprecedented escalation of the already frayed ties between Jerusalem and Ankara, Turkish authorities on Monday briefly detained some 40 Israeli passengers arriving at Istanbul airport, separating them from other passengers, leading them to a private interrogation room and confiscating their passports. The incidents occurred on the same day that the Turkish Foreign Ministry instructed top-level Israeli embassy officials in Ankara that they had until Wednesday to leave the country. September has always been a slow month for Israeli tourism in Turkey, but the question in the tourist industry now is what will happen during the upcoming Jewish High Holiday season, which starts at the end of September and continues into October. Yehuda Zafrani, deputy chief executive officer of Ofir Tours, said on Monday that Israelis will not be vacationing to Turkey, even during the High Holiday season. "On Friday, after the Turkish government's announcement, reservations for vacations in Turkey abruptly stopped, and some were even cancelled," Zafrani said. "If there are flights to Antalya, they will mostly be taken by Arabs." Striking a more optimistic tone, Ronen Karaso, vice president of marketing for ISSTA Lines, said, "As soon as there is a chance of normalization with Turkey, Israelis will resume vacationing there." The ongoing crisis has sparked concern in the airline industry that the number of Turkish Airlines flights to and from Israel might be cut. These flights mostly serve businesspeople and seasoned travelers, with Israelis using Turkey as a layover destination on longer travel filling the extra seats. Now, however, Israelis are expected to look for alternative routes and national Israeli carrier El Al, as well as other airlines, will likely feel pressure to add direct flights to remote countries. Following the Gaza flotilla incident of 2010, many Israelis turned to Greece as an alternate vacation destination. Insiders in the tourist industry expect this trend to continue. Israir Airlines has reported a record number of reservations for Greek island vacations. "Many people prefer to vacation in places like Cyprus, Rhodes, Crete, Burgos, Verona, and others," said Dror Bahat, assistant general manager of commerce and aviation for IDB Tourism. Right-wing Knesset initiative: Tourist boycott against Turkey Right-wing MKs have launched an official initiative to call on the Israeli public to boycott all tourism to Turkey. Yisrael Beitenu MK Moshe Matalon said, The embarrassing event that our tourists experienced in Istanbul [on Monday] makes it clear to Israeli citizens that they are not wanted in Turkey and that Erdogans policies have affected his citizens. There are enough other places in Israel and the world that one can travel to - if the Turkish dont want us, they dont need to have us. I recommend to our citizens not to lay their healthy heads on a sick bed, New National Religious Party MK Zevulun Orlev said. There is no reason to offer financial support to a country that shames, curses and threatens Israel. There is a limit to how much humiliation we are willing to absorb, added Yisrael Beitenu MK Anastassia Michaeli. This type of behavior toward tourists crosses a red line. Despite the harsh responses from right-wing Knesset members, the government is actually trying to calm the flames of anger following the incident on Monday in the Istanbul airport, clarifying in a statement that, the story is over, and it appears that the actions were tit for tat retaliations by [Turkish] citizens who felt they had already been insulted. Economic ties will not end in a snap Businesspeople who shuttle between Tel Aviv and Istanbul on an near-daily basis are worried about recent developments between the two countries. Menashe Carmon, council chairman of the Israel-Turkey Business Council, says that there is enough tension between the two countries that instead of calming, we are just heating up. Despite the rising tensions, however, imports and exports between the two countries surged throughout the past year, increasing by 26 percent, a total of NIS 3.1 billion. In the first quarter of 2011, the pace of Israeli exports to Turkey rose by 40% over the same quarter in 2010. Military exports, however, which play an important part in the commercial system, have undergone a deep freeze over the past few years. In their place, exports of chemicals and refined oil have skyrocketed. Carmon, a businessman dealing in acquisitions and mergers of Turkish companies, has flown to Turkey once every ten days for the past 20 years. Every single event in itself does not influence the commercial relations between the two countries, he said. Carmon is quite certain that just because the atmosphere is a bit unpleasant, people dont just get up and invest in another country. When commercial relations already exist, they dont just end in a snap. Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer shares Carmon's point of view. Commerical trade with Turkey is significant for Israel and the consequences would be serious for us, said Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer on Monday at a meeting for the Tel Aviv Development Committee. I hope that this is an isolated event, perpetrated by one hotheaded person, Carmon said, adding that he hopes to stay optimistic. "Turkey is not a forsaken country. Western investment is important to it and I think the people there are wise and thinking about the long term. Ofra Bar Shalom, the CEO of A.B. Dental Devices Ltd., a country that exports dental implants to Turkey, is worried about potential consequences of the diplomatic fray. The framework of our business ties with Turkey is fantastic. Please do not destroy them. I have a customer there worth a million dollars and I have not traveled to visit him them because I am scared. Every time he visits Israel, [security] takes him aside to a room and detains him for three, sometimes four, hours. Not everyone agrees with Shalom's approach. Roni Halman, head of the Halman-Aldubi Group investment conglomerate, recommends that Israelis pull Israeli investments out of Turkey before it is too late. Otherwise they will just lose their money.
