The aid flotilla that was on its way to Gaza did not pose any clear and present danger to Israeli security interests or to the lives of Israeli civilians. It was more of a diplomatic and PR nuisance.

That the Obama Doctrine and the foreign policy that the president has been pursuing are closer in terms of substance and approach to those advanced by Bush I and Clinton may sound like very good news.

In short, Turkey is not as threatening as its detractors warn nor as powerful as many Turks and their new fans believe.

The so-called Periphery Doctrine of forming alliance with non-Arab states in the periphery of the Middle East, with which Israel had not direct conflict, has been tossed into the dustbin of history.