Bennett: Erdogan making Israel regret apology

Habayit Hayehudi chairman criticizes Israeli-Turkish reconciliation; 'No country is doing Israel a favor by renewing ties with it,' he says, warning that responses to terrorism will be severe

Moran Azulay|Published: 03.27.13 , 18:18

Following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's apology to Turkey for the 2010 flotilla incident, coalition partner Naftali Bennett warned that Israel's response to future terrorism "would be no less severe."

"Since the apology was made public it appears that Erdogan is doing everything in his power to make Israel regret its apology, while running a personal and tactless campaign at the expense of Israel-Turkey relations," Bennett said.

Related stories:

The Habayit Hayehudi chairman and economy and trade minister posted the comments on his Facebook page, further stating that "To be sure, no country is doing Israel a favor by renewing ties with it."

Following last week's Israeli-Turkish reconciliation, Erdogan clarified on Tuesday that the normalization of relations between the two nations would only occur if Israel implemented its side of the deal with Turkey.

"We are waiting to see what will happen on the ground soon. If they (Israelis) show positive and promising steps – we will do our part as well," he said.

Israel and Turkey are in disagreement over the compensation the Jewish state is to pay to the families of the nine Turkish nationals who were killed during the IDF raid on the Gaza-bound ship.

Israel wants to pay a total of $1 million to the families, while Turkey is demanding that each family receive $1 million.

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni discussed the compensation with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. The countries agreed to set up a joint committee to deal with the compensation issue.

The committee will be headed by Feridun Sinirlioglu, undersecretary of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a former ambassador to Israel, as well as by Netanyahu's National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror and Attorney Joseph Ciechanover, the prime minister's special envoy.