Israeli Prime Minister Benjamín Netanyahu is planning a visit to Türkiye and a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the summer, according to political sources in Tel Aviv and Ankara on Saturday.
They added that the visit was brought up during a phone call between Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on Thursday with the newly appointed Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
Barak Ravid, a political correspondent from Walla! News said that there are ongoing talks between Israel's Prime Minister's Office and the Turkish President's Office regarding Netanyahu's soon-expected visit.
"The relations between Israel and Türkiye are important for regional stability and peace," Cohen said.
“The renewal of the flights of the Israeli airlines to Türkiye will further increase the tourism ties between the countries and strengthen the friendship between the nations,” he added.
Fidan thanked Minister Cohen for the Israeli aid delegation to Türkiye after the recent earthquake.
Erdogan had congratulated Netanyahu via a phone call for his election as prime minister at the beginning of the year. Following the call, Israel and Türkiye resumed full diplomatic ties in January after the years-long crisis.
Channel 12 reported that the officials in Netanyahu’s office believe that Erdogan approved a meeting with Netanyahu amid efforts to rebuild strong ties between Türkiye and Israel.
However, other diplomatic sources said the process has encountered some difficulties, namely, that Erdogan will only meet Netanyahu if he delivers news on gas cooperation between the countries.
Türkiye has been eager to build a pipeline to deliver gas from Israel to Europe.
Other sources said that Netanyahu is still waiting for an invitation from the White House to visit Washington. Netanyahu is relying on other issues of interest for the public opinion in Israel and therefore is betting on visiting Türkiye and resuming efforts to visit Abu Dhabi.