Netanyahu apologizes for Gaza flotilla raid

‘Moment was right’ for renewed Turkey-israel talk

Benjamin Netanyahu apologized Friday to Turkey for the deaths of nine Turks on an aid flotilla to Gaza as the former allies seek to restore diplomatic ties.

The Israeli Prime Minister made the comments during a phone call from Tel Aviv to his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said the Israeli premier’s office and officials traveling in Israel with President Barack Obama, who brokered the thaw between the U.S. allies in the Middle East.

His office said Mr. Netanyahu “expressed Israel’s apology to the Turkish people for any mistakes that might have led to the loss of life or injury” aboard the aid ship that was raided by Israeli commandos in May 2010.

The countries agreed to work on compensation and a non-liability accord, a reference to Turkish legal action against Israeli soldiers.

An Israeli official also said the countries have agreed to restore diplomatic ties by reinstating their ambassadors.

The Turkish-Israeli alliance, based on security ties stretching back decades, has been under strain in recent years. The flotilla incident exacerbated tensions caused by Mr. Erdogan’s repeated criticism of Israeli policy, especially the Gaza incursion of 2008.

More recently, there have been signs of overlap in the countries’ regional interests. Both are urging the departure of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and Turkey has distanced itself from Israel’s chief enemy, Iran.

The rapprochement is a surprise and a “significant” development toward improved relations between Turkey and Israel, said Kemal Kirisci, head of the Turkey Project at the Brookings In- stitution in Washington.

“It came, literally, out of the blue … [It’s] a fascinating, spurof-the-moment production on the part of Obama, and a little credit would go his way.”

The U.S. President said the “moment was right” for the attempt to repair the relationship and there is more to be done.

“This is just beginning,” he said at a news conference with King Abdullah of Jordan in Amman.

Cliff May, president of the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, a non-partisan policy institution in Washington, said hurdles remain to a fuller restoration of the relations.

“It’s positive, but count me pessimistic that it restores the Turkish-Israeli alliance,” he said.

Mr. Erdogan’s response was “reasonably gracious,” Mr. May said.

Even so, there remain a set of historical and structural difficulties between the two U.S. allies.

Mr. Erdogan, a politician with Islamist roots, accused Israel of “state terrorism” in Gaza and walked out of a discussion with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Davos, Switzerland, in 2009.

His anti-Israeli stance has won him kudos with the public in Turkey, where there is strong sympathy with Palestinians, and across the region. He was welcomed as a hero when he visited Egypt and other Arab countries after the revolutions of 2011.

The Turkish PM has made statements equating Zionism with fascism, Mr. May said.

“Somebody says Zionism is fascism, or Zionism is racism, they are saying Israel doesn’t have a right to exist,” he pointed out.

If Mr. Netanyahu believes that is Mr. Erdogan’s true conviction, apologies may not matter and trust might not be restored to any meaningful degree, Mr. May added.

Turkey broke off diplomatic ties after the flotilla attack.

Last November, it put four former Israeli officers, including ex-chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi, on trial in absentia for the killings. Israel said the aid ship ignored a warning to turn aside and activists attacked soldiers who boarded in order to stop it from breaching the blockade of Gaza.