Haaretz: "Apologizing to Turkey is in Israel's interest"

Israel should apologize to Turkey for the eight Turks killed last year in a raid on the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara aid ship, Israeli daily Haaretz said on Sunday. In an editorial entitled "Apologizing to Turkey is in Israel's interest," the paper said, "The Middle Eastern kaleidoscope has once again made a 180-degree turn, revealing a new picture. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's letter to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulating him for his party's sweeping victory in the elections is only one aspect. (...) Turkey took another significant step (this month) when it 'recommended' to the IHH, the Turkish humanitarian relief organization, that it cancel its participation in the new aid flotilla to Gaza, mainly to prevent the flotilla from diverting attention from events in Syria. (...) And if not for Israel's unsuccessful policy in Gaza, and its tragic handling of the last flotilla to Gaza, Israel could at least have boasted of good relations with Turkey (...) Turkey, it should be recalled, did not let any country pressure it to sever its relations with Israel. (…) This is exactly the right time to initiate a move – not put out feelers – vis-a-vis Turkey, and to pick up the shards. It would not be disastrous for Israel to apologize for killing Turkish citizens. An apology is not an admission of blame."