Conflict: Following the clash between the "peace flotilla" and Israeli forces on Sunday, two things are clear: One, Israel will defend itself, even if it has to do so alone. And two, Turkey is no longer an ally of the West.

Israel really had no choice but to respond to the clear provocation of the phony Turkish "peace flotilla" that attempted to deliver aid to the terrorist regime now in charge of Gaza. Far from being a fleet of "humanitarian" aid groups, as described in the media, the boats were filled with terrorist-linked Islamist and extreme left groups, bonded by their fanatical hatred of Israel.

And yet the U.N. Security Council predictably condemned what it called the "acts which resulted in the loss" of 10 lives. If it issued an equally harsh condemnation of North Korea's cold-blooded and unprovoked March 26 attack on a South Korean ship, murdering 46 South Korean sailors, we didn't hear it.

Others also condemned Israel. China, which hosted North Korean officials just days after their murderous attack on a South Korean ship, expressed fury. Even NATO vowed a probe of Israel.

But why? The ship that Israel boarded, the Mavi Marmara, was filled with Hamas supporters who were eager if not intent on picking a fight with Israeli forces over Israel's blockade of the Gaza coast. That blockade aimed to keep arms from going to terrorists.

Hamas lobs anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 missiles a year at Israeli civilian settlements, with nary a peep of criticism from the "world community."

As video tapes show, Israel warned the ship not to break its blockade. It offered to let the flotilla land in the port of Ashdod and to deliver any legitimate aid to Gaza. Reasonable requests, all denied.

Instead, as Israeli forces armed with paint-ball guns rappelled onto the deck of the ship from helicopters, they were attacked with iron bars, knives, slingshots and clubs, and in one case an Israeli navy commando was tossed overboard.

Israel is in a dangerous spot. After the Obama administration's distancing of the U.S. from its strongest ally in the Middle East, Israel is now under greater threat than ever.

The U.N. just announced that Iran has two tons of enriched uranium, enough for two bombs. Syria has a nuclear program of its own. Both countries support Hamas and Hezbollah, and both seek the destruction of Israel.

Just last week, Israel sent three nuclear submarines to the Persian Gulf as a message. Despite U.N. condemnations, Israel has let it be known it will respond to any further provocations.

It's obvious that Turkey, a NATO member that supported and served as the home base for the "Peace Flotilla" — is no longer in any meaningful sense an ally of the West.

Since the election of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in 2002, Turkey has moved closer to the Islamofascist regimes in Syria and Iran — and away from the West. Perhaps hurt by the European Union's decision to postpone Turkey's membership, Turkey has become a bastion of Islamism — after 87 years of its officially secular government, started by Kemal Ataturk in 1923.

Since Erdogan's Islamist AKP Party won power in 2002, Turkey has begun to align itself with the enemies of the West. In 2003, it refused to let U.S. troops invade Iraq from Turkish bases. In 2004, it refused to support an independent Lebanon. And today it's forging closer ties with Iran even as the mullahs pursue a nuclear bomb.

This is happening now because the U.S. has opted for soft diplomacy and peace at all costs in the Middle East — even if that "peace" endangers Israel. We have tempted the Islamists in the region to test our response to all this.

Thanks to U.S. diplomatic ineptitude, Israel's more isolated than ever, Turkey's moving into the Islamist bloc, and American clout in the Middle East is at a low ebb. Expect more violence, and soon.