Israel reportedly mulling apology to Turkey over Mavi Marmara

Discussions between Israeli defense and Justice Ministry officials over the past few weeks have suggested that a cautious apology to Turkey over last year's Mavi Marmara incident could prevent possible lawsuits by Turkish organizations against Israel Defense Forces officers and bring the crisis in bilateral ties to an end, reported Israeli daily Haaretz yesterday. While Israeli Defense Ministry officials support the idea of offering an apology for the deadly raid on the aid ship, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman opposes it, claiming that this could lead to lawsuits against Israeli officials and commandos, said the daily. The two countries have made bold moves in the past few weeks to normalize relations ahead of the release of the UN's Palmer report on the incident. Israel and Turkey have also planned to release a carefully worded statement to replace the report, which blames both Turkey and Israel for wrongdoing. According to Haaretz, defense officials claim that Israel has a major stake in improving relations with Turkey in light of Turkey's standing in the region, its past economic ties with Israel, and the opportunity to renew defense-related exports to Turkey.