The entire world that no apology was due. Sure you have all apologized to your spouse or someone, without believing an apology was due. Sometimes that is an act of wisdon. Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iran are at best unstable. Jordan teeters along thanks to Israel's support for Hussain. Bibi is no fool. He knows this is a good time to "humour" Ergogan and the Turkish people. With the US allied to both this can only be a plus. Well done Bibi, regardless whether you have been pushed or willingly took the initiative. We can all be shure...the world knows exactly who was to blame for the Mavi Marmara incident!

Palestinians have nobody to blame but yourseves. If you wanted peace, you would have had it a long time ago. It a bitch when Israelis defend themselves ! Go cry to the UN !

I think what we are seeing here .....lots happening behind the scenes ie, united front against Iran. Getting very interesting !

Great News for Israeli diplomacy and common sense. But when will Erdogan apologise for the slaughter of Kurdish civilians and freedom fighters in Iraq? Turkey has no problem sending in the troops and warplanes across the border when it gets attacked. Perhaps Israel should send supplies to the Kurds and see how Erdogan reacts? Oh and as for the 'blockade' - try offloading goods and landing ships in unrecognised ports in Britain and see what happens. The U.K. coastguard would react in exactly the same way if terrorists tried to supply our home- grown Jihadists with illegal and unchecked goods. Hmmmm perhaps we should apologise to our Jihadist Imams?

Normalizing relations with Turkey is in Israel's interest. Moreover, it is clear that loss of life could have been prevented.

Netanyahu with excuses to Erdogan, is buying his political tombstone with RIP written. A credit, without interest, in comfortable payment.

would have been inappropriate because Israel did nothing wrong. An apology now implies OTHER considerations. A pity it had to be done. I am certain there is no other way to deal with those considerations because it meant that Israel had to concede yet again.

In a turbulent world where we live - it is better to shake hand with our foe and bury our pride than to stay on the border line with pride knowing we are right and they are wrong - It is a very clever move by the the Prime Minister - He should be congratulated - Well Done!

Is the Armchair Coward! You couldn't Fill Bibi's Shoes if there your a Thousand of you! Get A Life, what Bibi did was called compromise for the future of the Jewish people and Our Land! However b.H.o. Made he Sure he would get the last word in, or to make Bibi Lo

Do you believe everything that comes out of the White House? More fool you.

Bibi puts the security of Israel above his own pride and the demands by the idiot Erdogan. There is a lot we don't see here and that will become clear in the future. Wait and see...

BUT more importantly I need to know what it means? Does it mean that : 1) Israel was at fault - being Barbaric and a Bully 2) Next time they may come back for Gaza and Israel must only look on and seethe?

There are other factors in play here that we know nothing about. Both countries will benefit from such a move. Besides, Israel is no weaker for apologizing. Turkey and Israel have more to gain as allies than as enemies.

This was a smart move that gave away very little. Israel admitted to mistakes. Nobody thinks the Mavi Marmara operation was handled well, so this concedes the obvious. Israel did not state that it was wrong to have boarded the Mavi Marmara or for soldiers to fire in self-defense. No Israeli rights have been given away. Israel regretted the loss of life. Unlike Palestinians who hand out candy when they kill anyone, Israel does not enjoy when it has to kill. So this is a restatement of principles. Paying into a humanitarian fund. Peanuts compared with defense or domestic programs. So Bibi and Obama have done well. Part of being tough-minded means thinking clearly. That includes being ready to give away things of minimal value to gain more valuable things. Now if Erdogan fabricates a new crisis, it is all on him.

so bibi expressed apology for error in a phone conversation. erdogan stated that he values centuries-long cooperation between the turkish and jewish nations. the two countries will renew full diplomatic relations.

So sad!

clearly the turkish ihh group was lookinig for a fight in what was a legal blockade. and israeli commandos sent under equipped by barak, escaped by a hair's breath from death. On the other hand, turkey is important moslem nation for israel with good trade but unreliable political leadership. so apologizing to erdogan sets a precedent for israeli concessions. Yet, all may not be lost. However, it is clear that bibi should step down in the near future and allow benneett, feiglin, leiberman, lapid to vy for the premiership. Bibi simply does not have the strength of conviction to march israel forward. Is he better than lousy and piece of dirt olmert-of course. But he is weak and unable to stand on his principles similar to ehud barak who was a total anomoly, brave on his early commando missions and fearful as hell in dealinig with egypt offering olmert concessions on proximiity to gaza fence and fishing limits that harm israel. Yaalon is not afraid of eygpt and anyone though he knows array of forces and history. He will not fold like a cheap suit. Bibi should step down in the next few months. as for the gutless yechaimovith, and stupid livni, take obama's kumbaya and throw in the garbage. It only leads to death.

Here is the exact quote from NY Times: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel told Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that he regretted a 2010 raid on a Turkish ship that killed nine people, officials said

You can't take the ghetto out of the J. I am ashamed of the Prime Minister. 'Broken Windows' theory.... you cave in on little stuff, then bigger stuff, soon you are their Bitch. Power is only good if you APPLY IT.

and what Israel did on that ship was and is a war crime...Let's see if Goldston's BS down-play of this terrible incident dosn't come up at the ICC eventually and bite Israel in the ass..hope it's soon...... I'd real;y like to see Israel apologize to every American tax payer who has allowed Israel to get away with war crimes and made us complicit.. ... TATA

Why don't you apologize for seven decades of unremitting violence and terror visited against the Jewish people both in Israel and in the Diaspora? No matter. I'm sure Obama delivered the message to Abbas that in exchange for an apology to Turkey from Netanyahu and normalization of the relationship between Turkey and Israel at a time when Iran and Syria are definitely the bigger focus, the United States has agreed not to press Israel on settlement construction and to veto any attempt in the Security Council to block Israel's annexation of Judea and Samaria and the repatriation of its Arab residents to Jordan. Same message has been delivered in Amman. Face it -- you're just not important to anyone nowadays, and no one likes a terrorist rabble, even if they pay lip service to that rabble. 'Bye!

Same goes for Turkey. Israel has always been Turkey's best friend in the region. Never did a nankorluk to Israel. Influenced USA to lift the 1974 US embargo, supported Turkey in many issues in the UN. Do not see this as an Israeli Weakness, it is just a friendly gesture that can be very fragile. If Erdogan continues with the same attitude towards Israel things can change very quickly including deteriorating Turkey/USA relations.

David, I am sorry to inform you that Israel attacked Syrian site not using Turkish airspace. Only jettisoned fuel tanks Turkish soil. Don't be a lion, beign a cat is enough for you, a cat that can handle the mouse called "Hizbullah".

David, Israeli diplomats has repeatedly tried times to initiate the relations, even managed to get a final "apology" text, but Lieberman ooposed it multiple times. It was the Israeli side who was more interested in amending the times because it was the Israeli side who had done the biggest mistake, namely killing activists.

dummy, it is in israel's interest only and only in israel's interest!!!!! nothing to do with a heartfelt apology. it was done only because israel felt it must be done for ISRAEL'S INTERESTS ONLY.

it was not you land. no palesinian entity ever had a land or country called palestine. it was turkish ottoman and then british and french. you lot were primitive felaheen working the land for turkish land lords, but you didn't own the land and never did. you were all arabs from the surrounding countries working under the ottoman empire, turkish, not arab!!! go read some real history books, not what your your imams tell you. palestine, vail????????? you must be kidding me.

that if an Islamist government had been in place in the area called Israel since 1948 today it would look much like Assads bloody Syria today ....the misery index would be a thousand fold worse ... There is a need for Palestinians to reassess their blessings as citizens of Israel ...become a peaceful people and live along side your israeli neighbors in peace ... bullets and Bombs are not the answer but rather reaching a hand out to help your neighbor .. yes there will be problems but they can be peacefully worked out over time....

Turkey needed to have put a monitoring crew aboard to insure protesters stayed peaceful ... instead they allow a known militant group to take charge of the ship...

Mr Tagip Erdogan has Cancer so is his last petion.