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    Netanyahu: Israel-Turkey Reconciliation Still to be Achieved

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Summary

Despite early leaks to the Israeli media, PM Benjamin Netanyahu and top officials say that reconciliation agreement with turkey is still not a done deal.

by: Ya'acov Zalel

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Natural Gas & LNG News, East Med Focus, East Med, Cyprus, Turkey, Italy

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Netanyahu: Israel-Turkey Reconciliation Still to be Achieved

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Ministry top officials have poured cold water on the reconciliation process between Turkey and Israel, trying to control the flame that ignited last week with a leak to Israeli media. Yesterday (Monday), at a Likud Knesset faction gathering Mr. Netanyahu said that there are still a few hurdles to overcome before a reconciliation agreement is signed. In that, he echoed the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, who earlier in the week, said that so far Israel has fulfilled just one of the three Turkish principal demands for reconciliation.

As mentioned in earlier reports, Turkey deported Saleh Aruri, a senior Hamas military operative who set a command post in Istanbul. However, the deportation is related more to the fact that the US put Aruri on its blacklist of terrorists. The Hamas command post in Istanbul, however, is still in operation and Israel is demanding its closure and the elimination of all Hamas military activities in Turkey.

The other main issue is the Turkish demand for the removal of the Israeli naval blockade on Gaza Strip. "We won’t change our policy on the naval blockade,” a senior official has quoted Mr. Netanyahu as saying according to Ha'aretz daily. “We are transferring equipment to Gaza and assisting in its reconstruction, but we won’t concede our security.”

Over the last few days, Israeli officials tried to placate Greece and Cyprus and to reassure both countries that the reconciliation with Turkey wouldn’t undermine the relationship between the countries. Just a day before the revelation of the Turkey-Israel negotiations the director generals of the Greek, Cypriot and Israeli Foreign Ministries met in Jerusalem to prepare the trilateral summit between the 3 countries leaders, slated for 28 January. Since the revelation, Mr. Netanyahu also spoke with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and reassured him that reconciliation with Turkey wouldn’t harm the relationship between Cyprus and Israel.

Ya'acov Zalel

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