After six years of crisis, Israel and Turkey mended their relationship this week with a historic reconciliation agreement.
Turkey has been at loggerheads with Israel since May 2010, following the Gaza flotilla raid, during which time it recalled its ambassador, pulled the plug on military cooperation, and unleashed a string of verbal attacks against Jerusalem.
On Monday, the two countries signalled that the falling-out is over, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel declared triumphantly: “Israel has reached an agreement of strategic importance for the State of Israel, for security, for regional stability and for the Israeli economy.”
The agreement was the subject of widespread public interest in Israel, while in Turkey, the development was overshadowed by the deadly attack that took place at Istanbul’s largest airport on Tuesday evening.
To reach the agreement Netanyahu took an unprecedented step, agreeing to compensate the families of 10 anti-Israel activists who were killed when trying to break Israel’s military blockade as part of the flotilla of 2010. Flotilla activists violently attacked Israeli commandos who boarded their boat, and the activists died as a combat situation ensued.
Read the rest of the article by Nathan Jeffay in the Australian Jewish News.
Refer to previous AJN article 28/6/16: Israel, Turkey reach reconciliation deal