Israel’s President Visits Turkey in Sign of Thawing Relations

President Isaac Herzog of Israel was received on Wednesday with pomp and ceremony by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey during a state visit described by both sides as an effort to reset after years of testy and broken relations between the onetime regional allies.

Mr. Herzog, a former Labor Party leader, plays a mostly symbolic role as president, and the 24-hour visit was more about mood and optics than executive decisions. But it was the highest-level meeting of an Israeli leader in Turkey in 14 years.

The two presidents and their delegations met at the presidential complex in Ankara, Turkey. Mr. Erdogan was then scheduled to host a state dinner in honor of Mr. Herzog and his wife, Michal Herzog.

“I believe that this historic visit will be a new turning point in the relations of Turkey and Israel,” Mr. Erdogan said, flanked by Israeli and Turkish flags as the two presidents made statements after their summit.

Mr. Herzog said the visit represented “a very important moment in relations between our countries.”

“I feel it is a great privilege for both of us to lay the foundations for the cultivation of friendly relations between our states and our peoples,” he said, “and to build bridges that are critical for all of us.”

Once Israel’s closest friend in the Muslim world, Turkey fell out with it after a deadly confrontation in 2010 between Israeli commandos and Turkish activists on a passenger vessel that tried to breach Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian coastal territory that is under the control of Hamas, the Islamic militant group.

The ship, the Mavi Marmara, was part of a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza when Israeli naval commandos rappelled onto its deck and killed nine activists after being met with violent resistance. A 10th activist later died of his wounds.

Though some level of diplomatic relations was restored, Israeli-Turkish relations have been through ups and downs ever since.

The two countries resumed full diplomatic relations in 2016, after Israel agreed to pay about $20 million into a compensation fund for the families of those killed on the Mavi Marmara. Turkey, in turn, dropped criminal charges it had filed against the Israeli officers involved in the confrontation. Israel also asked the Turkish authorities to prevent Hamas operatives in Turkey from orchestrating attacks against Israel.

That thaw did not last long.

In late 2017, when President Donald J. Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, relations took another downturn. Mr. Erdogan’s strong criticism of Israeli policy toward the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem has also proved a constant irritant. He has compared Israel to Nazi Germany and accused the Israelis of genocide after their forces killed scores of Palestinian protesters during clashes along the Gaza border fence in 2018, on the day that the United States moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Yet bilateral trade and tourism have continued apace. Mr. Erdogan said on Wednesday that the volume of trade between the two countries reached $8.5 billion last year, and that he hoped it would reach $10 billion this year.

Mr. Erdogan has indicated a willingness for warmer ties since Israel’s new government formed last June, with Naftali Bennett replacing Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister, and since Mr. Herzog became president a month later.

Mr. Erdogan called Mr. Herzog to congratulate him when he entered office and the pair have spoken three times on the phone since. Mr. Herzog offered his well wishes to Mr. Erdogan last month after he contracted Covid, and in November 2021, thanked him for the release of an Israeli couple held for several days in a Turkish prison on suspicion of spying after they took photos of Mr. Erdogan’s residence in Istanbul. Mr. Erdogan also offered Mr. Herzog condolences when his mother, Aura Herzog, died in January.

Israel’s political leadership has been cautious in expressing optimism about a fresh start. Mr. Herzog said that his visit was fully coordinated with Mr. Bennett and Israel’s foreign minister, Yair Lapid, and that Israel would try to promote dialogue with Turkey and “examine it through deeds.”

Both sides have a clear interest in better ties, analysts say.

Mr. Erdogan, whose country is in the midst of a financial crisis, has repeatedly expressed a desire for Turkey to have a part in Israel’s lucrative natural gas discoveries in the Mediterranean, including a proposal to work with Israel in carrying its natural gas to Europe — an unlikely proposition for Israel.

“Turkey is extremely interested in getting a share of the Eastern Mediterranean gas bonanza,” said Dore Gold, an Israeli diplomat who is president of the Israeli think tank Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and who helped negotiate the 2016 reconciliation agreement with Turkey. “Israel has signed agreements for the development of the fields with Cyprus and other eastern Mediterranean states, but it has not done so with Turkey.”

As for Israel’s interest, Mr. Gold said, “normalization of relations with Islamic countries has been a constant interest for all Israeli governments.”

Both Turkey and Israel have become mediators in the Ukraine crisis, but Mr. Herzog’s visit was not directly related to those efforts.

Mr. Herzog’s visit was not welcomed in all quarters in Turkey. As he and Mr. Erdogan were giving their statements to the press, some Turks, including opposition figures, took to Twitter in a campaign to criticize Mr. Erdogan, accusing him of making a U-turn in his policy at the expense of Palestinians.

A hashtag on Twitter in English, #OneMinuteErdogan, referred to the moment in 2009 when Mr. Erdogan challenged former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum in Davos over the Palestinian issue. Mr. Erdogan had cut off the moderator, saying, “One minute,” before taking the floor to harshly criticize Mr. Peres.

The moment was considered to be one of the turning points in relations between the countries.

Husnu Can Ozmen, who identified himself as a member of the Turkish Islamist Felicity Party on Twitter, shared a picture of the two leaders shaking hands during Wednesday’s visit and reminded Mr. Erdogan of his words to Mr. Peres: “You know well how to kill.”

Members of the Felicity Party protested in Istanbul with banners saying, “We don’t want Herzog in our country.”