Israel-Turkey reconciliation deal to be signed this week | Globes

The two countries' negotiating teams are meeting in Rome to settle the final details.

The reconciliation negotiations between Israel and Turkey will be resumed today in Rome, where representatives of the two countries will attempt to complete the negotiations and end a crisis that has been afflicting relations between Israel and Turkey since 2010. Jerusalem believes that a reconciliation agreement will be achieved this week, and perhaps in the next 24 hours, saying that it depends mainly on how flexible the Turkish side is. Israel is planning another discussion by the security cabinet later this week if an agreement is reached.

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In the framework of the reconciliation agreement, Israel will pay Turkey $20 million in compensation for the Mavi Marmara incident in 2010, in which nine Turkish citizens were killed by IDF fire on board the ship on its way to the Gaza Strip. Turkey will disallow lawsuits against IDF officers and soldiers who took part in the mission that took control of the ship, from the senior officers serving at that time, such as then-IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, to all the soldiers who took part in the action.

A joint dialogue took place last week in Istanbul between two strategic research institutes: Mitvim The Israeli Institute for Regional Policy Studies and Turkish institute Global Political Trends Center. During the event, a senior Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs official, who came to meet a group of Israeli researchers, said, "There is a greater need for cooperation between Israel and Turkey, given the split between Fatah and Hamas, the developments in the Palestinians theater, and the looming period after Abu Mazen." In the meetings between the Israeli researchers and Turkish officials, Mitvim founder and head Dr. Nimrod Goren said, "Great optimism has been expressed concerning an approaching agreement. It is clear that the two countries are at the dawn of a new chapter in the relations between them."

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