Senior official confident Israel to give in to Turkey's demands

A senior Foreign Ministry official has expressed confidence that Israel will eventually give in to demands by Turkey and offer an apology and pay compensation to victims in order to pave the way for a normalization of bilateral relations. “The Israeli government is ready to issue an apology; now they are working on public opinion for this,” said Center for Strategic Research Chairman Bulent Aras, in an interview with the Yeni Safak daily published yesterday. Although the official stated that the crisis caused by the Mavi Marmara raid in May of last year was the reason for the isolation of Israel from the international community, he acknowledged that an Israeli agreement to issue an official apology and compensation for the loss of lives would also function as an “exit strategy” for the country.