![Thousands of people have gathered across Istanbul to march in solidarity with Palestinians, calling for an end to war on Gaza, on January 1, 2026. [Muhammed Ali Yiğit - Anadolu Agency]](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/AA-20260101-40132326-40132322-TENS_OF_THOUSANDS_MARCH_IN_ISTANBUL_IN_SOLIDARITY_WITH_PALESTINIANS-1.jpg)
What began as a diplomatic rupture has hardened into a regional power contest with direct consequences for US strategy from Gaza to the Eastern Mediterranean and to the Horn of Africa. For years, the Israeli-Turkish split was dismissed in Washington politics as diplomatic theatre concealing an underlying strategic partnership. Such an assessment no longer applies. Beginning early 2026, a line had been crossed in Israeli-Turkish relations, transforming diplomatic alienation into a strategic rivalry with ominous implications that now extend into US regional calculus. The sudden regional change is not an inter-state dispute but a struggle for the region’s pecking order. Israel is determined to retain its supreme position as the uncontested military hegemon of the Middle East and the powerhouse […]
