After an impressive morning being addressed by President Obama and President Peres, we attended break-out sessions that are off the record. So, I can’t write what was said there, but I can give general impressions. Rick and I heard a panel on Turkey. One of the three presenters was Alan Makovsky. He, plus three other attendees, made four U. City class of ’68 graduates present! (That doesn’t include me. I’m class of ’69.)

In general, I am left with the impression that relations between Israel and Turkey are pretty grim.The speakers reminded us of the ways Turkey and Israel used to cooperate in trade and militarily. In recent years, especially since the flotilla incident, things have gotten very bad. Maybe there is a glimmer of hope in developments such as a Turkish television broadcast, in Turkish, Persian and Arabic of the 1985 documentary, “The Shoah.” If the conduct of the government can’t be changed, perhaps the hearts of the people can be.

Rick and Marcy Cornfeld are Co-Chairs of the St. Louis AIPAC Council and are blogging from AIPAC’s Policy Conference 2012 in Washington, D.C.