Erdan says he wasn’t convinced Turkey has sway over Hamas

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan says he voted for the Turkey deal “after much thought and anguish.”

“I researched the issue and unfortunately, I was not convinced that Turkey can force Hamas to return our soldiers and citizens,” he says, referring to the two Israelis thought to be held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, along with the bodies of two soldiers killed in the 2014 Gaza war.

He also defends the provision in the deal that compensates the families of the Turks killed on the Mavi Marmara flotilla in 2010 after they attacked Israeli soldiers who boarded the ship.

“There are no perfect reconciliation deals,” he says. “Indeed, the payment is infuriating and frustrating, but I do not believe it to be true that it legitimizes the violent activities of terrorists who attacked our soldiers,” he says.

Israel in the past has made painful concessions in deals that have benefited the state in the long run, he says.

“The price we paid never signaled agreement or justification of the actions of those attacking us, whether it was Hezbollah, Hamas, or Egypt,” he says.

Erdan says on his urging, the security cabinet will discuss the missing citizens and the bodies of the soldiers and work to secure their release.