President Obama concluded a successful visit to Israel on Friday by helping broker an end to the self-defeating standoff between two American allies, Israel and Turkey. The breakthrough is a credit to both prime ministers, Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, but it is also a sign that Mr. Obama, criticized as "leading from behind" on foreign policy, is prepared to engage more directly in international affairs.
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Democracies both, Israel and Turkey share common interests in a peaceful solution to the civil war in Syria and in keeping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Their refusal to work together and frequent outright hostility had only made those challenges harder.
Turkey was Israel's closest Muslim friend until Israel's 2010 attack on a ship carrying aid to Gaza killed eight Turks and one Turkish-American. A United Nations investigation the following year found that Israel's naval blockade of Gaza was legal and that Israeli commandos boarding the vessel were justified in defending themselves against "organized and violent resistance." But it said the force used by the Israelis was "excessive and unreasonable."Turkey rejected the findings, expelled Israel's ambassador and said it was freezing military ties until Israel apologized for the deaths and compensated the victims' families. On Friday, with Mr. Obama by his side, Mr. Netanyahu telephoned Mr. Erdogan, expressed regret for the raid (an apology he had long resisted) and offered compensation. After Mr. Erdogan accepted the gesture, officials said diplomatic relations had been fully restored.
Earlier, Mr. Erdogan, who had called Zionism a "crime against humanity," softened his remarks in an interview with a Danish newspaper. This gave Mr. Netanyahu, with American nudging, an opening to make the call.
Israel and Turkey will undoubtedly have further differences. But it is critical to have two such influential nations cooperating to stabilize a volatile region instead of working against each other.
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