After 14 years of disconnection between the President of Turkey and the Prime Minister of Israel: Lapid and Erdogan met in New York

The two leaders met at the UN Assembly, at the Turkish Consulate in New York, in a meeting closed to the media. This is another step in the process of normalizing relations between the countries, which began after the establishment of the Bennett-Lapid government last year

Barak Ravid

09/20/2022

Tuesday, September 20, 2022, 6:52 p.m. Updated: 11:25 p.m.

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Prime Minister Lapid met today (Tuesday) at the United Nations Assembly in New York with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and discussed with him the promotion of relations between the countries after many years of crisis.

Lapid and Erdogan, in New York today (Photo: Government Press Office, Avi Ohion)

why is it important

• This was the first time Erdogan met with an Israeli prime minister since his meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Ankara in December 2008.

• The meeting is another step in the process of normalizing relations between the countries that began after the establishment of the Bennett-Lapid government in June of last year.

In the news center

• The meeting between Erdogan and Lapid took place at the Turkish Consulate in New York.

  The meeting was closed to the media and was recorded by official photographers only.

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To the full article

what are they saying

• In his speech to the UN General Assembly a few hours before the meeting with Lapid, Erdogan said that the two-state solution should be promoted, the current identity and character of Jerusalem should be maintained, the Al-Aqsa Mosque should be respected and the settlements in the occupied territories should be stopped.

• "We need a fair solution in the region within the framework of which a Palestinian state will be established with its capital in East Jerusalem. There is no other solution but this one that will benefit both the Palestinians and Israel," Erdogan said.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid takes off for the UN General Assembly (Photo: Government Press Office, Avi Ohion)

reminder

• During that meeting in Ankara in 2008, Olmert and Syrian President Assad conducted indirect telephone negotiations through Erdogan for several hours in an attempt to bring about a breakthrough between the countries.

• A few days after the meeting, Israel launched Operation "Cast Lead" in the Gaza Strip.

  From this point there was a serious deterioration in the relations between the countries which led to a continuous crisis of more than a decade.

• Erdogan claimed that Olmert had deceived him in a meeting in Ankara and the former prime minister claimed that he warned Erdogan that if the escalation in the south continued, Israel would have no choice but to launch an operation.

the situation picture

• Three weeks ago Israel and Turkey announced the normalization of relations between them and the return of the level of diplomatic relations to the highest level and the appointment of ambassadors and consuls general after over four years in which the level of relations was low.

• Shortly before the announcement, Israel and Turkey finally signed an aviation agreement that will allow the renewal of Israeli airlines' flights to Turkey after many years when flights between the countries were operated by Turkish airlines only.

• Lapid and Erdogan spoke twice on the phone in the last two months.

  The first conversation took place immediately after Lapid was sworn in as Prime Minister and the second conversation took place after the announcement of the normalization of relations.

• The one who led the process of normalizing relations between the countries was President Herzog in coordination with Lapid and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

  In March, Herzog visited Ankara and met with Erdogan.

  It was the first visit of an Israeli president to Turkey in 15 years.

• On Monday, a day before the meeting in New York, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the appointment of veteran Irish diplomat Irit Lilian as Israel's ambassador to Turkey, after four years in which there was no Israeli ambassador in Ankara.

  Lilian has served for the past two years as the person in charge of the Israeli embassy in Turkey.

Herzog's visit to Ankara (Photo: Reuters)

the situation picture

• According to a report in the Jewish-American news agency JTA, Erdogan said in a meeting with Jewish leaders in New York on Monday that he is interested in visiting Israel.

  However, Erdogan noted that no date has yet been set for such a visit.

• Turkish President Erdogan said in his speech at the UN General Assembly that the two-state solution should be promoted and the current identity and character of Jerusalem should be preserved, the Al-Aqsa Mosque should be respected and the settlements in the occupied territories should be stopped.

• "We need a fair solution in the region within the framework of which a Palestinian state will be established with its capital in East Jerusalem. There is no other solution but this one that will benefit both the Palestinians and Israel," Erdogan said.

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• Erdogan