Israel
will stick to its refusal to apologize to Turkey for killing nine of
its citizens aboard a Gaza-bound ship, an official said on Wednesday,
dampening any prospects for reconciliation between the former allies.
The
decision, which the official said Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
conveyed to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a telephone call,
was made days before the publication of the findings of a UN inquiry
into the seizure of the
Mavi Marmara last year.
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The
so-called Palmer report was repeatedly delayed to allow for
Israeli-Turkish rapprochement talks amid concern in Washington at the
rift between two countries that had been strategic partners in an
increasingly stormy Middle East.
Officials, citing advance copies
of the report, have said it would vindicate Israel's blockade on the
Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Turkey, which like Israel had a delegate on the
UN panel headed by former New Zealand prime minister Geoffrey Palmer,
has said it would not accept such a finding.
The
Mavi Marmara was part of an
activist flotilla bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza when it was boarded
by Israeli marines on the Mediterranean high seas on May 31, 2010. The
marines shot dead nine Turks, including a dual US citizen, during fierce
deck brawls.
Netanyahu voiced regret over the killings. But Turkey insisted on a
formal apology and compensation for those bereaved and injured, which
Israel initially rejected as tantamount to admitting culpability for an
action it deems self-defense.
Turkish
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday it would be impossible
for Turkish-Israeli ties to improve unless Jerusalem apologized and paid
compensation for the killing of nine Turks.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak, a centrist in Netanyahu's conservative
coalition government, has since stirred debate inside the cabinet by
proposing Israel offer a diluted apology in hope of restoring ties with
what was once a rare Muslim ally of the Jewish state.
"We're firm on not apologizing," the official said.
Asked if Israel might change tack after the Palmer report's publication,
the official said: "Why would we do that? We know the report supports
our position."
The Turkish embassy had no immediate comment.
Kurt Hoyer, spokesman for the US embassy, said Washington wanted Israel
and Turkey "to look for opportunities to get past the current strains in
their bilateral relations." He would not comment on the conversation
the Israeli official said had taken place on Tuesday between Netanyahu
and Clinton.
In arguing for accommodating the Turks, Barak had said this would help
indemnify Israel's navy personnel against lawsuits abroad. The Palmer
report would contain some criticism of Israeli tactics aboard the
Mavi Marmara, Barak said.
His most vocal opponent in the cabinet was Foreign Minister
Avigdor Lieberman, who noted that Ankara's Islamist-rooted government
also demands an end to the Gaza blockade.
Israel calls the measure a precaution against arms reaching Hamas and
other Palestinian guerrillas by sea. Palestinians and their supporters
describe the blockade as illegal collective punishment.
The United Nations has said it expects to release the Palmer report this
month. Officials gave August 22 as the publication date.