DAVOS (Sputnik) — Relations between the two countries deteriorated after the Freedom Flotilla incident in 2010, when a convoy of six ships, including one under Turkey's flag, tried to approach the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid and activists on board. The flotilla was blocked and stormed by Israeli forces, with eight Turkish citizens being killed.
"We are talking to them, they are talking to us, and if we succeed it will be good for both countries. We are always hopeful," Netanyahu told journalists at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Following the incident, Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador from the country and recalled its ambassador from Israel.
In December, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country would benefit from improving relations with Israel.
In late 2015, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, however, said Turkey ruled out the possibility of rapprochement with Israel without the lifting of Israel's Gaza blockade, imposed in 2007.
