<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan received the credentials of Israel’s new ambassador to Turkiye on Tuesday, as the two countries normalize ties after four years of strain.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>Turkiye and Israel began improving relations with high-level visits this year including Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Ankara. They agreed to appoint ambassadors mutually in August.</div><div><br></div><div>After Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu won elections last month, he and Erdogan agreed to “work together to create a new era in relations” on a basis of respect for mutual interests.</div><div><br></div><div>Irit Lillian, Israeli’s charge d’affaires in Ankara since January 2021, became ambassador after presenting her letter of confidence to Erdogan.</div><div><br></div><div>Once close regional allies, relations between Israel and Turkiye have been strained for more than a decade, with Ankara having expelled Israel’s ambassador following a 2010 Israeli raid on an aid ship to Gaza, which killed 10 Turkish citizens.</div><div><br></div><div>Diplomatic relations were restored in 2016, but two years later Turkiye recalled its ambassador from Israel and expelled the Israeli envoy when Israeli forces killed a number of Palestinians who had taken part in protests in the Gaza Strip.</div><div><br></div><div>Already facing criticism on policy before taking office, Netanyahu has vowed to govern for all Israelis even as he will head one of the most right-wing governments in the country’s history. - Reuters&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>