Earlier this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signaled a possible warming of relations with Israel, saying in published comments that the entire region would benefit from the normalization of ties.
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An Israeli official says that Israel and Turkey have reached “an understanding” that could lead to a rapprochement between the former allies whose relations broke down in 2010.
Yossi Cohen, the National Security Council chief who is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s choice to succeed Tamir Pardo as head of Mossad, met in Switzerland with a Turkish official on Wednesday, Channel 10 learned.
Israel and Turkey have agreed on the basics of a deal to normalize their relations, news media said Friday, with other reports that talks were ongoing.
Turkey also agreed to prevent Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri from operating within the country, according to the statement from Israeli officials. No more claims against Israel over the episode will be outstanding and the two ambassadors will return to their posts in Tel Aviv and Ankara.
Turkish officials told Bloomberg this week that progress had been made toward an agreement with Israel, driven partly by Turkey’s current conflict with Russian Federation and its need to find alternative sources of fuel.
Talks will also begin to lay down a natural gas pipeline from Israel to Turkey, the official added.
Under the preliminary agreement, Israel will establish a compensation fund of $20 million to address the killing by Israeli marines of 10 Turks aboard the Mavi Marmara, a ship carrying Palestine-solidarity activists attempting to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip in 2010, the official said. In the call, which Turkey’s foreign minister said lasted almost 30 minutes, Netanyahu acknowledged “operational mistakes” during the raid.
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The Mavi Marmara was leading a “Gaza Freedom Flotilla” carrying humanitarian aid for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007.
