Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday said Israel doesn't want a confrontation with Turkey, but that it won't tolerate anti-Semitic remarks and incitement against Jews.

Lieberman said Israel respects Turkey and its people and expects the same in return.

Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon issued a special statement of apology Tuesday night for his treatment of Turkish ambassador to Israel Ahmet Oguz Celikkol on Monday.

Summoned by Ayalon over an anti-Israeli television show in Turkey, Celikkol was made to sit in a chair lower than that of the deputy foreign minister, while the Turkish flag was deliberately not on display during the meeting.

"My protest of the attacks against Israel in Turkey still stands," Ayalon said. "However, it is not my way to insult foreign ambassadors and in the future I will clarify my position by more acceptable diplomatic means."

At the beginning of his Monday meeting with Celikkol, Ayalon told cameramen in Hebrew: "Pay attention that he is sitting in a lower chair ... that there is only an Israeli flag on the table and that we are not smiling."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday expressed satisfaction with Ayalon's apology. he said that the deputy foreign minister's protest was justified, but that he should have used acceptable diplomatic means to express his outrage.

The deliberate insult enraged Turkey and deepened the rift that has emerged over the past year between the Jewish state and its closest friend in the Muslim world.

The Turkish ambassador and the Turkish government were furious at the humiliation. In a sharply worded ultimatum to Israel earlier Tuesday, Ankara demanded an apology for what it described as Ayalon's demeaning treatment of its ambassador.

Headlines in Turkish newspapers on Wednesday showed deep outrage over the incident.

"Insolence," blared the daily Vatan, and Cumhuriyet proclaimed, "Ties with Israel are breaking down."

"Vile conspiracy," railed the Sabah, while the pro-Islamic Yeni Safak newspaper fumed: "Despicable and immoral."

Turkey's NTV and Haber Turk television stations cited unnamed Turkish
foreign ministry officials as saying Ankara was not satisfied with Ayalon's statements and expected a serious apology. The officials also hinted that Celikkol could be recalled if Israel didn't comply.

Also Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said at a press conference in London that relations between Israel and Turkey would return to normal "when Israel resumes a peaceful policy."

Sources in the Prime Minister's Bureau said Tuesday the decision to invite the Turkish ambassador for a reprimand by Ayalon was made together with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

At the Prime Minister's Bureau, they noted that Netanyahu was not aware of the way the reprimand would be carried out, "but the minute it happened the prime minister [gave] the foreign minister his full backing."