Israel will not send an official apology to Turkey over the deadly Gaza flotilla raid in 2010 that left nine Turkish activists dead, the Yediot Ahronot newspaper reported on Friday.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced on Friday that following Israel's adamant refusal to apologize over the 2010 flotilla raid, Ankara would minimize diplomatic relations with Israel and freeze cooperation in the military sphere.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed nine Turkish activists aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla as they were trying to breach Israel's embargo on the Gaza Strip.
Israel maintains that commandos who raided the ship opened fire because the activists attacked them, but the activists say they were attacked first.
According to the newspaper, there was a closed meeting of ministers earlier this week where they discussed the possibility of sending an apology to Ankara. Four ministers, including Defense Minister Ehud Barak, insisted on sending a "partial" apology in regard to the death of the Turks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not intend to send any apology for the actions of the Israeli military regardless of Turkey's ultimatum, a government source said on Friday.
"In any case, Israel will not apologize to Turkey because, according to the available information on the commission's findings, the Israeli military did not violate international law during the raid," the source said.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier that an apology was the main condition for the restoration of the Turkish-Israeli relations. In addition to an apology over the deaths, Ankara is waiting for Tel Aviv to pay compensation to the families of the victims and also demands the blockade of the Gaza Strip to be lifted.
