Piotr Kosiorek

After the Justice and Development Party (Turkish Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) came to power in Turkey in 2002, Turkish external activity was remodeled. Since then, the deepening of Turkish‑Palestinian relations could also be observed. This change is related to the new doctrine of foreign policy as well as to the conditions of Ankara’s regional policy, which competes with other players for the role of a regional power. The intensity of actions towards Palestine is also influenced by tensions between Turkey and Israel, which are characterized by varying intensity. Despite the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2016, the Republic has not abandoned its pro‑Palestinian stance. The purpose of this text is to analyze Turkish‑Palestinian relations in terms of the main principles determining Ankara’s external activity. Due to subjective disproportionality, it should be noted that Turkey, from the position of a regional player, is taking steps towards Palestine, which has lots of limitations when it comes to political steps. The areas of activity betwen Turkey and Palestine concerns issues such as humanitarian aid, cultural heritage, identity and historical ties, and trade. In its relations with Palestine, Ankara uses institutional soft power tools, which may also serve Turkish strategic aims. In the first part of the article, the main principles and mechanisms of Ankara’s foreign policy was presented together with the strategy that determines the directions of external activity. These principles are the basis for discussing the nature of political relations between the two sides as well as for analyzing economic relations, humanitarian aid and cooperation in the field of culture.

Jewish settlement is one of the most important elements of the long – term contradictions between Israel and Palestine. Moreover, the legal status of the outposts is problematical. The main objective of this text is analysis the significance of Jewish settlement in the context of the Israeli – Palestinian conflict and to try to answer the question how high in the hierarchy of the State of Israel priorities is the Jewish settlement. In a content of this article there such matters as security wall with its functions and consequences for Palestinians in the context of Jewish settlements, issue of an administration of the West Bank and the case study describes example of the Kfar Etzion and Sheikh Jarrah.

Immigrants from the former Soviet Union came to Israel under various circumstances motivated by political, economic, social and security factors. Their greatest number came to the Jewish State in migration wave of the 1970s and, above all, the „great Russian Aliyah” of the 1990s. Next numerous groups emigrated in 2000-2009 and 2014-2019. Also the number of Ukrainian Jews coming to Israel increasing due to the open Russian aggression in Ukraine. Expatriots from the former Soviet republics are another component of Israeli multiculturalism. A peculiar community among the Russian-speaking newcomers are the post-Soviet oligarchs, businessmen and billionaires, who have an influence on the socio-political life of the country, especially in the institutional sphere. Worth noting thing is the current tendency to combine Soviet and Jewish elements in the field of historical policy and to supplementing the Israeli historiography of the Second World War with Soviet components. The main objective of this article will be to analyze the role and importance of the Russian-speaking Jewish community in Israel. The text will be an attempt to answer the question to what extent and on what spheres the merge of two communities – local Israeli and immigrant can be observed.