Isaac Herzog, Avigdor Liberman: Turkey-Israel deal comes too late

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog on Friday criticized as tardy an emerging deal that could lead toward normalized diplomatic ties between Israel and Turkey.

 

On Wednesday, incoming Mossad head Yossi Cohen, and Joseph Ciechanover, who has served as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s special envoy to Turkey for the past five years, met with Turkish Foreign Ministry director-general Feridun Sinirlioglu to draw up the terms of the agreement that would put an end to the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident that led to a tailspin in diplomatic ties between the two countries, the sources said.

 

“If we had reached an agreement with Turkey two years ago, Israel would have benefited more,” said the Zionist Union leader at an event hosted by Limmud FSU.

 

Herzog added that Jerusalem’s relations with Ankara should be strengthened in other spheres and while the emerging deal was in the right step, it “must not give [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan a foothold in Gaza.”

 

“Netanyahu, as usual, shuffled his feet and acted out of panic [spurred] by [Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor] Liberman and other coalition partners and therefore the price is higher now,” he said.

 

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