According to a statement by Israel’s foreign affairs ministry, Netanyahu told Erdogan he had just had good conversations with President Obama about regional cooperation and the importance of Israel-Turkey relations and that he regretted the recent deterioration of relations between Israel and Turkey and expressed his commitment to overcoming their differences in order to advance peace and stability in the region.

He made clear that the tragic outcome of the Mavi Marmara incident was not intended by Israel and that Israel regrets the loss of human life and injury.

The Prime Minister expressed Israel’s apology to the Turkish people for any mistakes that might have led to the loss of life or injury and agreed to conclude an agreement on compensation/nonliability.

Netanyahu also noted that Israel had substantially lifted the restrictions on the entry of civilian goods into the Palestinian territories, including Gaza, and that this would continue as long as calm prevailed. The two leaders agreed to continue to work to improve the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories.

On May 31, 2010 the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) boarded the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara, the largest ship in a flotilla aimed at breaking Israel’s siege on Gaza in May 2010, leaving nine pro-Palestinian activists dead.

Turkey demanded a formal apology but Israel refused to make a formal apology and pay conpensation to families of the dead. As a result, expelled Jerusalem’s ambassador from Ankara.

Diplomatic ties were severely downgraded, ever since.

Part of the plot is located next to the site of a new road junction that will be created to serve the new municipal airport. Another part, which is privately owned, currently operates as the only 18-hole golf course on Crete, local authorities told the paper.

As argued, “the group’s representative said that the investment would only go ahead if the Greek state speeds up its licensing procedures.”

In a related development, Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni, visited Israel earlier this month to meet government officials and also try to boost investment in the debt-crunched country.

Kefaloyianni met with her counterpart Stas Misezhnikov where the two discussed options for attracting Israeli business interest in Greece and tourists.

The meeting took place during the IMTM 2013 international travel fair in Israel, and led to the strengthening of cooperation between the two countries’ tourism authorities, it was reported.

Some 400,000 Israelis visited Greece last year, and a further growth in the number of tourists is expected this year, Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni told Yedioth Ahronoth.

According to the minister, 2012 was a record year in tourism from Israel to Greece for several reasons.

Since 2010, when relations between Israel and Turkey deteriorated, Greece has been enjoying a boom in Israeli tourists.

According to data from the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry, the number of Israeli tourists visiting Turkey plunged by 90 percent in 2010, while the Greek Culture Ministry said the number of Israeli tourists visiting Greece in 2010 had risen to 250,000, from 100,000 in 2009.

The huge drop in Israeli tourism followed followed the May 31 encounter aboard the Turkish-owned Mavi Marmara in which nine pro-Palestinian activists when Israeli Navy commandos boarded the ship. The flagship led a six-vessel flotilla meant to breech Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Mr. Erdogan, who twice last year scheduled and then canceled visits to Gaza, did not give any further details about when he planned to visit Gaza, which he mentioned to reporters traveling with him on a plane to Ankara, according to Today’s Zaman.

Mr. Erdogan’s comments came a few days after the emir of Qatar became the first head of state to visit Gaza since Hamas seized control in 2007, pledging $400 million for development projects.

The crown prince of Bahrain was also scheduled to visit the Palestinian enclave on last week but canceled at the last minute to avoid political repercussions, according to Arab news media.

Meanwhile, the United States on Friday voiced opposition to a planned visit to Gaza by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, calling it a move that undermines peace and security in the region, Xinhua news reported.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007, remains “a destabilizing force ” in the strip and the region.

Nuland said Washington would have conversations with Turkey, a NATO ally, to “try to get a better understanding of what’s intended ” in the planned trip.

The U.S. and Israel see Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Erdogan has reiterated that reconciliation between Turkey and Israel was conditional on the lifting of the Gaza blockade.

Bilateral relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv collapsed in May 2010 after Israel killed nine Turkish citizens on board an aid flotilla trying to break the blockade on Gaza.

The Turkish premier says ties will not be restored until Israel apologizes for the incident, compensates the families of the victims and lifts its siege of Gaza.

“We don’t need Israeli tourists in Turkey and we don’t feel their absence,” Erdogan told journalists of Maariv newspaper during a reception in Istanbul yesterday.

“Thirty-one million tourists came to Turkey last year. Israel’s tourism boycott won’t affect us,” he said.

He also insisted that only when Israel takes necessary steps for the clash, like apologizing for the commando raid that killed nine Turkish activists on the Mavi Marmara in 2010, paying compensation to their families and removing the blockade against Gaza, bilateral relations will improve between the two countries.

“Only if Israel apologizes for IDF soldiers boarding the Marmara and killing Turkish activists, and pays compensation to the families of the dead, and removes the terrible blockade on Gaza, will I be ready to meet with the Israeli prime minister, and perhaps normalize relations between the countries,” Erdogan said.

On May 31, 2010 the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)  boarded the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara, the largest ship in a flotilla aimed at breaking Israel’s siege on Gaza in May 2010, leaving nine pro-Palestinian activists dead, according to AFP.

Turkey, which in the past was very friendly with Israel, has elected a government with an increasingly worsening stance toward Israel, as well as increasing support for Palestinians and pro-Palestinian activists. “Palestinian men, women and children that have done nothing wrong are being killed wholesale or held in the largest prison,” Erdogan also said according to Globes.

Israeli state officials warned citizens not travel to Turkey on March 13, 2012, Hurriyet daily news reported.

Israeli commandos boarded the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara, the largest ship in a flotilla aimed at breaking Israel’s siege on Gaza in May 2010, leaving nine pro-Palestinian activists dead, according to AFP.

The 144-page indictment called for each of the four Israeli commanders to get nine life sentences after the prosecutor reportedly heard the testimonies of nearly 600 witnesses, which included passengers aboard the ship and the relatives of victims as part of the investigation, according to Anatolia.

Last September the United Nations issued a statement in which it accused Israel of acting with “excessive force” in the operation but it endorsed the legality of Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, which Israel says is necessary to prevent the Islamist movement Hamas, from obtaining weapons.

The date for the trial is not yet announced, but it would be held in the absence of the accused, Israel having ruled out any prosecution of those who took part in the attack.

Turkey demanded a formal apology but Israel refused to make a formal apology and pay conpensation to families of the dead. As a result, expelled Jerusalem’s ambassador from Ankara. Diplomatic ties were severely downgraded, and have remained impaired ever since.