Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Israel's Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to work together to create a new era in relations between Türkiye and Israel.

 

 

This came during the first phone call between Netanyahu and Erdogan since nine years, when the then Israeli PM called the Turkish president in 2013 to apologize for the attack launched by the Israeli navy on the Turkish ship “Mavi Marmara”, which was part of a Turkish fleet to break the siege on Gaza in 2010, and which killed 9 Turkish citizens.

 

 

Erdogan’s office said Netanyahu's office said in a statement that Netanyahu offered his condolences for the recent deadly explosion in Istanbul that killed six and wounded 81 others.

 

 

Erdogan thanked Netanyahu for his call and also condoled Netanyahu for the three Israeli soldiers who were killed near a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday.

 

 

Earlier, Erdogan said he wished the Israeli election results “will be beneficial for the country and the region.”

 

 

Relations between Israel and Türkiye have been strained for more than a decade, with Ankara having expelled Israel's ambassador following a 2010 Israeli raid on an aid ship to Gaza, which killed Turkish citizens.