According to a report by Haber7 citing Israel's Maariv newspaper, Türkiye expert Dr. Hai Eitan Cohen Yanrojek said Ankara's influence in Syria was increasing and that this posed a risk for Israel.
Yanrojek said that after the fall of the Assad regime, Türkiye filled the vacuum left by Iran's departure from Syria, and the main force behind this was the Turkish Army. The change in Israel's perception was demonstrated in January 2025, when a committee headed by former National Security Council Chairman Yaakov Nagel classified Türkiye as a 'rival state'.
