Economic Minister Bennet says Turkeymaking Israel regret its apology
Industry and Economy Minister Naftali Bennet of Bayit Hayehudi says that Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan should know that if Israel is faced with terror then the response will be no less forceful than in the past. In his first comment since the public apology to Turkey over the Mavi Marmara incident in May 2010 Bennet charged that Erdogan was apparently making every effort to make Israel regret its decision to apologize. He added that the Turkish prime minister is conducting a personal campaign to advance his own interests at the expense of relations between the two countries. On his Facebook page Bennet wrote tht no nation is doing Israel a favor as he put it by renewing relations. Earlier reports said that Israel and Trukey are in disagreement over the amount of compensation to be paid to the families of those killed on the Mavi Marmara. Nine Turkish citizens were killed in the IDF commando raid on the ship that was attempting to run the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. -------------------- US concerned about Turkish PM planned visit to Gaza Washington has expressed doubts about PM Erdogan's intention to visit the Gaza Strip. A state department spokesman said that the US continues to call on those wishing to provide assistance to the residents of Gaza to use the existing channels in order to ensure that their aid gets to it's intended recipients and to honor Israel's security and logistic demands. The spokesman added that there is no change in Washington's position regarding Hamas and still opposes all contact with the group.