In Brief: Netanyahu to meet Erdogan at UN General Assembly sidelines

Recep Tayyip Erdogan > Government of Chile, CC BY 3.0 CL, via Wikimedia Commons

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will reportedly meet Turkey’s recently re-elected president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the UN General Assembly.

The two leaders were due to meet in July, but Netanyahu postponed his visit after undergoing surgery to have a pacemaker implanted.

The visit would have been the first by an Israeli prime minister since Ehud Olmert in 2008, after a decade of strained relations.

The meeting follows a period of improving ties between Israel and Turkey after years of animosity between the two leaders.

Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, was hosted by Erdogan last year in Ankara, while foreign minister Eli Cohen met the Turkish leader in February.

Israel had good relations with Turkey before Erdogan came to power, but ties were broken in 2010 after 10 Turkish activists died trying to reach Gaza in contravention of Israel and Egypt’s blockade.

Last August, Israel and Turkey announced a full renewal of diplomatic ties.

Netanyahu is also set to meet other world leaders including US and Ukrainian presidents Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky.