Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog shake hands during a joint news conference in Ankara, Turkey March 9, 2022. Photo: Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

In a phone call on Thursday, Israel’s designated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sought to advance a “new era” in the relations between the two countries.

“Highlighting the beginning of a new era in the Turkey-Israel relations thanks to the strong will displayed by both sides, President Erdogan said that it was in the shared interest of Turkey and Israel to maintain the relations by respecting sensitivities on the basis of mutual interests, and to strengthen them on a sustainable basis,” according to a readout of the call by Erdogan’s office.

In what marked the first conversation between the two leaders since 2013, Netanyahu called Erdogan to express his condolences over the killing of Turkish citizens in last week’s terror attack in Istanbul, while Erdogan conveyed his “sadness” over this week’s stabbing attack in Ariel in the West Bank.

During the call, Netanyahu told Erdogan that Turkey’s mediation efforts between Russia and Ukraine were “important to the world.” Erdogan congratulated Netanyahu on the recent election results and wished that Israel’s new government will be “auspicious for the country and the region.”

Turkey and Israel have this year taken cautious steps of rapprochement in a bid to put an end to long-strained bilateral ties. Back in March, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog became the first Israeli head of state to visit Turkey since 2008 when he met with Erdogan in Ankara. In the latest move of warming relations, Turkey and Israel agreed to re-appoint respective ambassadors more than four years after they were called back.

Israel and Turkey relations have remained tense since the 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla incident, which saw the death of 10 Turkish activists aboard a ship attempting to breach the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza, and since another rupture in 2018 after the US moved its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.