Turkey scrapped a joint military drill planned for last week with Israel, the United States, Italy and nato because of Israel’s involvement in the exercises. The move indicates that Turkish-Israeli relations are still suffering from 2008’s Gaza war, and has revived fears that Jerusalem could lose one of its most valuable friends in the region.

The mutual defense agreement between Turkey and Israel was initiated in 1996. It has provided billions of dollars worth of Israeli arms to Turkey, granted Israel’s air force overflight privileges, and, most significantly, given Israel a badly needed friend in a neighborhood of enemies. Because Turkey’s million-man army has kept Israel’s enemies at bay, the deal has been instrumental in stabilizing the volatile Middle East for years.

Both countries have denied that the situation indicates a change in their longstanding bilateral ties, but Ankara’s actions are sending a different message.

At the Davos summit in January of this year, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly lambasted Israel’s invasion of Gaza. His diatribe and this month’s decision to pull out of the military games were designed to show the Muslim and Arab worlds that Turkey is with them, without actually dissolving Turkey’s relationship with Israel.

While touting itself as the defender of the Islamic world, Turkey works diligently behind the scenes to maintain Turkey-Israel ties. By this method, Ankara hopes to respond to the Islamic world’s opposition to Israel while acting as a mediator between countries like Iran and the West. But a time is fast approaching when the relationship between Turkey and Israel will be revealed as the trap that it is. Turkey cannot play on both sides indefinitely.

As we wrote in January, anti-Semitism in Turkey is so powerful that the country’s leaders feel they must denounce Israel in order to retain legitimacy in the eyes of the people. Turkey’s leaders are trying to appear to snub Israel in order to appease the people and other Muslim nations.

At core, Turkey does not have Israel’s interests at heart. An honest evaluation of the situation would show Israel the truth about Turkey’s long-term allegiances.

Biblical prophecy reveals the inevitable outcome of this alliance. For those watching geopolitics through the lens of Bible prophecy, it will come as no surprise. But Israel will be shocked by the ruthless betrayal that will result from its relationship with Turkey.

To learn how this situation will unfold, read “Israel’s Alliance With Turkey Is a Trap” and Jerusalem in Prophecy.