Turkey, Israel Finalize Deal to Renew Relationship
Turkish President also apologized to Russia for downing a warplane last November.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have formally announced that their countries reached a deal to renew their relationship.
Netanyahu assured Israel that “the maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip would remain in place following the deal but that Turkey would be able to send supplies to Gaza via the Israeli port of Ashdod.”
Yıldırım confirmed his government will build a “friendship hospital” and develop a housing project with the Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKİ).
Israel and Turkey’s relationship ended in 2010 after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stopped the Mavi Marmara as it attempted “to break the Israeli blockade on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.” The raid killed 10 Turkish citizens.
Economic sanctions against Turkey have forced them to relent despite President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s anti-Semitic behavior. Russia implemented massive sanctions after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane over Syria in November.
Erdoğan also reached out to Russian President Vladimir Putin this morning to apologize for the incident. No one knows yet if this was part of the deal with Israel.
Breaking: Turkey govt announces regret over downing of Russian plane last year & Moscow-Ankara rapprochement steps pic.twitter.com/BPJOrouByE
— Borzou Daragahi ?? (@borzou) June 27, 2016
From The Times of Israel:
The agreement would secure the “continuation of the maritime security blockade off the Gaza Strip coast,” Netanyahu said.
“This is a supreme security interest for us. I was not prepared to compromise on it,” he added. Israel says the blockade is necessary to keep out material that could be used for military purposes in the Strip, which is run by the terror group Hamas.
The deal means the Turkish government will not enable Hamas to conduct, plan or direct any military activity against Israel. A Hamas official claimed that Erdoğan contacted the terrorist group and said he needed to make the deal “in order to save Turkey’s interests.”
Avi Issacharoff, the Times of Israel‘s Midlle east analyst, said the deal exposed Turkey “as a paper tiger from Hamas’s point of view.” Erdoğan’s moves have shown that Turkey’s economy trumps the wants of his Hamas allies.
A renewed relationship also means Turkey can purchase natural gas from Israel, which has two massive natural gas fields off their coast. Experts have found that the Tamar and Leviathan fields are worth $25 billion. Israel recently signed a $15 billion deal with Jordan for natural gas.
Netanyahu also said Israel ambassadors will return to Turkey. The government recalled them and diplomats in 2014 due to anti-Jewish protests. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said the Turkish government did nothing to protect its citizens “as rocks were thrown at the Istanbul consulate and the Israeli flag was reportedly torn down and replaced with the Palestinian one at the Ankara embassy.”
Israel agreed to pay $20 million in compensation and Turkey promised “not to take legal action against” the soldiers involved in the raid.
Turkey took the first step to normalize the situation with Israel in May by not opposing Israel’s attempts at opening an office at NATO.
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Hold on a second! The IHH terrorists that Turkey allowed to board the ship knifed an Israeli soldier in the stomach and threw him into the water. It is a simple miracle of God that he survived. And then Israel let all of the terrorists go!
And now ISRAEL is paying compensation? Turkey ought to be thrown out of NATO immediately.
re: “The deal means the Turkish government will not enable Hamas to conduct, plan or direct any military activity against Israel.”
The only reliably positive aspect of this agreement, that I can see, is that Turkey will once again betray their own best interests – they can’t help themselves.
In six, twelve or eighteen months they will be even further away from their goals of leadership in the Muslim world. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.” After several millennia and uncounted era’s, the Turkish character has been molded into what it is today. Could anyone expect integrity, fidelity or faithful honesty from such as these?
Once again, Israel will prevail, going from strength to strength – doing what it needs to do.
This is right up there with Hitler signing a non-aggression pact with Stalin. Israel would never trust Turkey except to betray them when the time is right. All I can think of is that Israel may need some breathing room for some other reason and this gets Turkey off of its back temporarily. Erdogan thinks he is the ayatollah and that Turkey will be a sharia country soon.
Netanyahu should have insisted on a Turkish apology for Mavi Marmara, and Turkish compensation for the Israeli soldiers injured. Erdogan is the one who needed this deal; let him be the one to apologise, since he’s the one who sent the terrorists.
Israel should also have demanded apologies from Egypt and Jordan as conditions of their respective peace treaties. Remember that Sadat remained proud of his Yom Kippur attack on Israel, literally to his dying day.