By Ted Belman
It was a bit of a surprise that Turkey offered to help with the fire. But It wasn’t a stand alone event. Evidently Turkey and Israel have been negotiating a way out of the diplomatic impasse. Turkey , as we know, has demanded an apology and compensation forthe deaths of nine of their citizens. Why didn’t Israel demand an apology for allowing the Mavi Marmara to be populated by violent activists from IHH intend on causing havoc as it attempted to break the legal blockade. Beats me.
In any event Haaretz reports,
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Israel agreed in principle to apologize and pay compensation, and the Turks agreed that if these two aspects are adhered to they would “normalize” relations with Israel and return their ambassador to Tel Aviv.
Nonetheless, both the apology and compensation remain problematic from legal and political perspectives.
A European diplomat familiar with the discussions said the apology is the toughest of the two issues. The two sides are trying to find a formula that would let Erdogan claim that the statement was an apology, but for Netanyahu to argue that it was not – only an expression of appreciation for Turkey’s assistance in putting out the fires in the Carmel region.
Please, say it isn’t so.
Today Liberman came out strongly against such apology and said Turkey whould apologize to Israel.
OK. It isn’t so: Israel won’t apologize; instead, it will apologize.
There — I’ve learned the lingo. Can I become an MK now?