TIMES OF ISRAEL
By Raphael Ahren
May 14, 2014
Lifting Gaza blockade, originally a key demand from Ankara, will not be part of normalization agreement, source says
A deal to end the four-year-old feud between Turkey and Israel is imminent and could be signed as soon as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returns from his trip to Japan, The Times of Israel has learned.
Jerusalem and Ankara agree on all outstanding issues that thus far have stood in the way of an agreement to fully restore bilateral ties to their pre-Gaza flotilla level, a knowledgeable source told The Times of Israel. Now it is up to Netanyahu to make a final decision to approve the deal, the source said.
The first step in a gradual reconciliation would be the immediate exchange of ambassadors. The deal also includes a $20 million compensation package for the families of nine Turks who died aboard the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara in May 2010 during an Israeli commando raid to stop the vessel. However, the agreement will not mention any change to Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, according to the source, who asked to remain unnamed due to the sensitive nature of the issue. Top officials in Ankara had repeatedly insisted that lifting the blockade is a key condition that needs to be fulfilled before ties can be re-normalized.
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