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Jewish Home faction to vote against Israeli deal with Turkey

Xinhua, June 28, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Israeli ultra-nationalist Jewish Home faction said Tuesday it will vote against the reconciliation deal between Turkey and Israel when it comes to vote on Wednesday.

A statement by the party said that the party Chair and Education Minister, Naftali Bennett, and Justice Minister, Ayelet Shaked, will vote against the deal in the security cabinet meeting.

The party's main objection concerns the 20 million U.S. dollar compensation that the agreement requires Israel to pay to the survivors and family of those who died during the Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara flotilla in 2010.

"Reconciliation with Turkey is important and in the interests of the State of Israel. However, compensation to the perpetrators of a terrorist act is a dangerous precedent Israel will regret in the future," Bennett said in the statement.

He also called on Turkey to do everything it can to make sure that the bodies of two dead soldiers, killed during Israel's 2014 military campaign in the Gaza Strip, will be returned home.

The Jewish Home's announcement follows Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's newly-appointed far-right security minister, who said Monday he will vote against the deal.

The security cabinet is Israel's top governmental forum on security issues. Currently, it has 10 minister members, meaning the deal is still expected to be approved.

The deal, announced on Monday in Rome, was accepted with mixed reactions in Israel, with some welcoming it as an important diplomatic step and many criticizing it as "bowing" to Turkey without bringing achievements to Israel.

The two countries, once close allies, suspended their diplomatic ties and cooperation after the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, in which Israeli commando soldiers raided and killed 10 Turkish activists who headed to the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid, in protest of the Israeli-imposed blockade.

Under the agreement, Israel would compensate the families of the deceased and injured victims in a sum of about 20 million U.S. dollars, and would allow Turkey to carry out rehabilitation projects in Gaza.

Turkey would pass a bill that would not allow citizens to sue Israeli soldiers who took part in the raid, and relinquished its demand for Israel to remove its naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, ruled by the Islamist Hamas movement since 2007.

The two countries would soon appoint ambassadors to Tel Aviv and Ankara and remove the restrictions on cooperation between them, specifically on the matter of natural gas deals. Endit