THE ISRAELI prime minister has made it clear there will be no apology from Jerusalem over the naval commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid boat, in which nine Turkish activists were killed.

“We do not want to apologise to Turkey but we are ready to express sorrow, as we have expressed, over the loss of life,” Binyamin Netanyahu said, “but first we want to protect our soldiers. We demand that Turkey recognise that Israel did not act maliciously and that our soldiers acted in self-defence.”

Israeli and Turkish officials met earlier this month in an effort to end the dispute over the May 31st interception of the Mavi Marmaravessel, which soured bilateral relations between the former close regional allies.

There were reports that Israel was willing to pay compensation to the families of the nine victims in return for Ankara agreeing not to press international lawsuits against the commandos.

However, Mr Netanyahu, in an interview with Israel’s Channel 10 television, said the contacts were continuing but the sides had so far failed to reach agreement on a compromise.

Defence minister Ehud Barak stressed the importance of mending fences with Turkey.

However, hard-line foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said it was chutzpahfor Ankara to demand an apology. He accused Turkey of encouraging terrorism and branded the Turkish prime minister and foreign minister liars.

Mr Netanyahu also suggested it may be possible to reach an interim peace agreement with the Palestinians without reaching a deal on some of the core issues, such as Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees.

Nabil Abu Rdainah, an aide to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, rejected the ideas out of hand. “Jerusalem is a red line as it is to be the capital of a future Palestinian state ... going back to talk about a state without determining its borders is unacceptable, and it will not lead us to a true peace.”

With the Middle East peace process currently at an impasse, Mr Netanyahu said he was ready to “go all the way” if the Palestinians were serious, but other options were possible.

“There could be a situation in which talks with the Palestinians hit a brick wall over the issues of Jerusalem and the right of return [for refugees], and in that case the result would be an interim agreement.”