Ankara – Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Wednesday he does not believe Israel should offer Turkey an official apology for the tragic outcome of the raid on the first Gaza flotilla.
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Lieberman, whose position is contrary to that of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, said that “There are some things I’m willing to discuss and some things I’m not willing to discuss. I will not have an apology harm Israel’s national dignity and I will not see IDF soldiers humiliated.”
Vice Premier Moshe Yaalon is currently on an official visit to the United States, where he is meeting with delegates from Ankara.
“We are all for ending the friction with Turkey… We have no territorial dispute with Turkey and we are willing to reach a compromise on the matter today, but an apology is not a compromise,” the foreign minister said. “It’s humiliating and it will abandon IDF soldiers.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Wednesday that Turkey insists on its demand from Israel on an apology and compensation for the families of those killed and wounded in an Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla on May 31, 2010.
Davutoglu said at a press conference that “we have been saying the same thing since last year, Israel must apologize and pay compensation. These are our principal stance on the issue.”
Avigdor Lieberman is an embarrassment to the Nation of Israel and all Jews living abroad.
Does he think he’s the Russian Foreign Minister?
Why is he being so arrogant?
The flotilla was a huge mess. The IDF should take full responsibility for sending their men and women into harms way with no intelligence and no plan.
It was a disaster and the results were not in anyone’s interest and sadly resulted in the tragic loss of life.
Turkey was Israel’s only friend in the region. For the IDF with all its resources to end up killing 9 unarmed citizens is incomprehensible. And not apologizing is even a bigger embarrassment.
How people let their ego get in the way of reuniting 2 countries that can gain so much from close relations again is unbelievable.
Apologize. We did make a mistake.
The right way to deal with “the flotilla problem”, is the way it was done now.
Diplomatically.
Everyone wins.
Chutzpah is a hallmark of the time before Moschiach. The Flotilla was an assault on Israel sovereignty. Perhaps Israel should apologize for fighting back and protecting its soldiers and territory too.. Maybe its a good idea to stop all the Turkish imports into Israel.
Even the UN sided with Israel on this. The chutzpa of the leftist Barak to want to apologize. Now I hope Israel does not tone down the UN report like the Turkies want they’ll just use a toned down report to their advantage.
He is right; an apology would harm Israel’s national dignity and humiliate Israel’s soldiers”. The reason why this is a “principal stance” by Turkey, is exactly that, to humiliate Israel and its soldiers. Israel like Turkey must also have a “principled stance”, and call Turkey’s bluff.
Israel should tell Turkey that this is war and you do not apologize to the enemy in wartime.
Compensate the family of the peoples killed. Lol. Mind boggling.
Oh, this can be worked out! “Israel apologizes, without reservation, for its failure to sink the ships that were attempting to run its blockade.” Or, if we’re going to insist on something directed at Turkey, maybe a bit of irony would work: “Israel apologizes, fully and without reservation, for having interfered with a Turkish-sponsored effort to undermine Israel’s security and violate its sovereignty. Honestly, what were we thinking? Really, the next time Turkey is seized with an urge to run contraband under our noses to help out folks who want to exterminate us, just give us a shout, and we promise to do everything in our power to faciliate the expeditious delivery of weapons and materiel to all your favorite terrorists– heck, we’ll even have a parade for them.”
We can make a deal that will make everyone happy, we’ll send a couple of activists over there without passports, invade their territory, even send along a couple weapons for good measure, maybe stab a turkish soldier or two…etc. if they are willing to apologize to us for their harsh response to our activists, we’ll apologize and pay compensation as well for last year. anyone agree
Turkey is pushing for this with full recognition that the entire flotilla was criminal, and that Israel was protecting its sovereignty. Shame on those that call for Israel to admit wrongdoing. Actually, the only thing they did wrong was failing to approach this as an act of war. They should have torpedoed each and every vessel attempting to breach the blockade. And they should be prepared to do it again if the flotilla ever sails. Sink any vessel that violates these waters. Stop with the baloney that this is humanitarian. There are legal ways to supply “aid” to Gaza.
Reply #2 we need more like avigder liberman and not some lefties like you. For your info you can still join the flotilla this year its by greece port and show your real face.
Should Police Officers wearing a bullet proof vest apologize to people who shoot at them?
Why were their weapons on the Armada? Why did Turkey allow the ship to go to Gaza? Where is there apology?
All u need to know is that barak wants to apologize, and that should tell u leiberman is correct.
There is nothing barak has done right, or bravely, in about 20 years.
It’s hard to believe he was once a Israeli commando.
Maybe he should apologize for his missions back then.
What a sellout.
Any time you put yourself into an illegal position, and illegal is the primary work here,
you have to accept the consequences of your act. You are responsible for what you
do. Apologize, you have to be kidding. You can not be serious. And another point
I would like to make is that why is the country of Turkey wanting an apology? Was this the act of the country of Turkey or the act of private individuals who just happen
to be from Turkey???