A new Israeli ambassador to Turkey has been appointed, a move that finalise the restoration of full diplomatic relations between the two countries following their downgrading in 2011.

The appointment of Eitan Na’eh finalises the reconciliation deal which was agreed between the two countries in June this year.

Na’e, 53, is a veteran diplomat, who served in Ankara in 1993 as second and then first secretary. He is an expert on Turkish affairs and has served as Deputy Ambassador in London since 2013. He is expected to arrive in Israel by the end of November.

In May 2010, the previously warm relationship between Israel and Turkey deteriorated after the deaths of Turkish citizens on a ship, the Mavi Marmara, that tried to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. Nine Turkish nationals were killed after IDF commandos faced violent resistance when they boarded the boat to keep it from reaching Gaza.

Turkey expelled Israel’s last ambassador to Turkey, Gabby Levy, in September 2011, more than a year after the Mavi Marmara flotilla incident poisoned ties between the two countries. Levy’s expulsion came after a UN report concluded that Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza was legal under international law and that Turkey did not do enough to keep the flotilla from sailing.

In 2016, an understanding was reached whereby Israel agreed to pay compensation to the families and to allow Turkish aid and infrastructure projects in the Gaza Strip.

In return, Turkey committed that it would not allow itself to be used as a base for terror groups such as Hamas and to extended bilateral relations with Israel.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described good relations with Turkey as being of strategic importance for security, regional stability and for the Israeli economy.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed that Kemal Okem, the former political advisor to rime Minister Binali Yıldırım, would represent Ankara in Tel Aviv.

Another element of the 2016 agreement was improved economic ties between Israel and Turkey. Yuval Steinitz, the Minister of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources, has recently announced that teams from both countries had began discussions on the laying of a gas pipeline from Israel to Turkey.

Israel has also conducted talks with Egypt on this subject, and has reached an agreement in principle with the backing of the EU Directorate-General for Energy to lay a pipeline to supply via Cyprus and Greece to Europe. A feasibility study for the pipeline returned positive results, but the progress of the project will depend first on the discovery of significant additional natural gas stores.