Israel’s defense minister on Monday said tensions between Turkey and the Jewish state -- escalated after a deadly Israeli attack on a Gaza-bound aid convoy -- must be defused in the shortest possible time.
"Wisdom tells us that we must do whatever we can do to ease tensions with Turkey. We need to leave this crisis behind and make our disagreements with Turkey the fundamental issue of our Middle Eastern policy," Ehud Barak told reporters during a visit to the Israeli defense contractor, Elbit Systems.
Tensions between the two countries were heightened last May when Israeli commandos raided Mavi Marmara -- the lead ship in a three-vessel aid flotilla headed for Gaza -- and killed eigth turks and a U.S.-Turkish citizen.
Turkey has recalled its ambassador immediately after the attack and it cancelled scheduled military exercises between the Turkish and Israeli armed forces.
Ankara has also repeatedly demanded from the Israeli government an official apology and redress for the relatives of the victims if relations were ever to go back to normal.
Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matam Vilnai has severely criticized remarks by the country’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, who said, "there will be no apology. On the contrary, we are expecting an apology from Ankara."
"As always, they are pathetic and useless," Vilnai described Lieberman’s remarks, adding that Lieberman’s comments made no positive contribution to Israel.