Israel waiting for gesture

“The heart has reasons that reason cannot know” is a famous saying of French philosopher Blaise Pascal. It was quoted by Yaşar Yakış, former foreign minister during the first Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, when he visited the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) last week to speak at a closed event. This made him the first Turkish official to pay a visit to the Knesset since January 2010.

Normalization between Turkey and Israel is almost here. Israel has fulfilled two of the conditions which Turkey had imposed to normalize relations, by apologizing and agreeing to pay compensation to the families of those killed on the Mavi Marmara. The third condition, which is the lifting of the Israeli blockade on Gaza, has retarded the normalization process. Yet this also seems to be fulfilled.

Last week for the first time, Israel let in the construction materials into the Gaza Strip which Turkey needs to build a hospital in Gaza. This is what Turkey has recently consented to: Not the total lifting of the blockade, but its easing so that Turkey could provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

The political will on both sides is also as steady as a rock. Both governments have downplayed the Mavi Marmara court’s verdict this week which issued international arrest warrants against four senior Israeli officers. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, “this decree is a separate issue and ours is a separate issue at the state level.”

Israel reacted similarly. The only official explanation has come from Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, who also downplayed it by saying that this verdict is rather a political act. Speaking to Yaşar Yakış, he also confirmed that there...

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