When the Nazis came to power, Germany and Austria were the world’s great centers of classical music, and the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics the most prestigious anywhere. They also hardly hesitated before removing the Jewish musicians in their midst, complying with demands to cease playing the music of Jewish composers, and then, after the war ended, retaining their Nazi members (including at least one former SS officer). In The Political Orchestra, the historian Fritz Trümpi tells the story of these two philharmonics’ collaboration with the Third Reich in what Terry Teachout calls “one of the most squalid chapters in the annals of Western culture.” He writes in his review:

Under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ankara has become increasingly authoritarian, Islamist, and hostile toward Israel and the West more generally. The Turkish government has also indicated that it aspires to alter its maritime border with Greece, and even its border with Syria. Analyzing these changes, and what they term the country’s “bellicose foreign policy,” Efraim Inbar, Eran Lerman, and Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak examine the implications for Israel, and how the Jewish state might best respond: