Israel, Turkey end six-year rift, driven by energy benefits
Israel and Turkey reached a deal on Sunday aimed at ending years of acrimony and restoring normalised ties that soured after a deadly 2010 raid on an aid flotilla, an Israeli official said.
The Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP the deal had been reached but details would not be officially announced until Monday. Negotiations were said to have been held in Rome, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed for talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday.
There were multiple reports in Israeli media that a deal could be announced as early as Sunday, though officials were declining to speak publicly on the talks.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Sunday afternoon, citing a senior Israeli official, that an agreement was expected to be announced within hours and that negotiating teams were meeting in the Italian capital.
Speculation that the highly anticipated deal was close came six years after an Israeli raid that killed 10 Turkish activists as an aid flotilla sought to run the blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Both sides have been pushing to complete the deal in recent months, with Israel in search of a potential customer for its offshore gas exports and NATO member Turkey wanting to restore its regional clout, analysts say.
The United States has also pushed for the two countries to resolve the dispute as it seeks cooperation in the fight against extremists from the Islamic State (IS) group.
If an agreement is reached, it would go before Israel’s security cabinet for approval on Wednesday, according to media reports and an Israeli official who requested anonymity.
Two of Turkey’s key conditions for normalisation — an apology and compensation — were largely met earlier, leaving its third demand, that Israel lift its blockade on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, as the main obstacle.
Reports in recent days described a compromise on the issue.
Under the reported terms of the deal, Israel will allow the completion of a much-needed hospital in besieged Gaza, as well as the construction of a new power station and a desalination plant for drinking water.
Turkey’s aid to Gaza would also be channelled through the Israeli port of Ashdod rather than sending it directly to the Palestinian enclave, the reports said.
Turkey has also committed to keeping Islamist movement Hamas from carrying out activities against Israel from its country, Haaretz reported Sunday.
Hamas would continue to be able to operate from Turkey for diplomatic purposes, the paper said.
Israel has reportedly committed to depositing some $20 million in a fund for compensation for the Turkish victims’ families.
Previously tight relations between Israel and Turkey were significantly downgraded after Israeli occupation forces staged a botched pre-dawn raid on the six-ship flotilla in May 2010 as it tried to break the Gaza blockade.
Nine activists aboard the Turkish-owned Mavi Marmara ferry were killed, with a 10th person later dying of his wounds.
The talks to restore ties, ongoing for months, have been accompanied by a change in tone from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Erdogan, a stout defender of the Palestinian cause, in July 2014 accused Israel of “keeping Hitler’s spirit alive” over its assault on the Gaza Strip that summer.
He has more recently said that “we, Israel and the Palestinians and the region have a lot to win from a normalisation process.”
The about-turn came amid a drastic worsening of ties between Turkey and Russia following Ankara’s downing of a Russian warplane over Syria on November 24, which wrecked several joint cooperation projects including on energy.
Israel is also motivated to find new allies in the region, in part due to a need for export partners for its natural gas. There has been talk of building a pipeline to Turkey.
It has also found itself under increasing pressure over the lack of any progress on peace efforts with the Palestinians and has sought to build relationships with regional countries partly to counter such criticism.
In addition, normalised ties could open opportunities for further cooperation between NATO and Israel since Turkey’s objections would be lifted, analysts say.
“There’s the question of isolation,” said Dror Zeevi, professor of Middle Eastern studies at Israel’s Hebrew University.
“Turkey’s lost almost all of its good relations with its neighbours … Israel doesn’t have many friends in the region either.”
Israel imposed its blockade on Gaza in June 2006. The restrictions were tightened a year later when Hamas took control of the enclave.
Gaza has lived through three Israeli devastating wars on the strip over the past six years, including Israel’s 51-day assault on Gaza in the summer of 2014.
source: AFP
