Rabbis, MKs visit Turkey

In spite of Foreign Ministry reservations, delegation led by deputy finance minister visits Ankara, Istanbul for meetings with interfaith groups, Turkish officials to discuss diplomatic standstill

Itamar Eichner|Published: 08.19.12 , 09:51

A delegation of Knesset Members and haredi rabbis headed by Deputy Finance Minister Yitzhak Cohen (Shas) and MK Nissim Zeev (Shas) made a secret visit to Turkey last week where they met with officials including members of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan's AKP party.

The visit received the go ahead – including an okay from the Prime Minister's Office in spite of the fact that the Foreign Ministry expressed its reservations over the trip.

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The delegation included several haredi rabbis from Europe as well as Middle East Lecturer Dr. Moti Keidar from Bar Ilan University.

The delegation was invited to Turkey by local interfaith organizations. The Israeli embassy in Ankara and the consulate in Istanbul accompanied Deputy Minister Cohen and even advised him that he should not attend a few of the meetings.

The delegation met with parliament members from various political parties in hotels in Ankara and Istanbul.

Issues discussed during the meetings included ways to end the diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Israel. The Israeli delegation reiterated Israel's stance that it would not apologize for the Marmara incident but that it would be willing to express condolences and pay compensation to the families.