apologized for the Gaza Flotilla incident. In an official statement the Israeli government expressed regret over deterioration in bilateral relations and described the incident as unintentional, regretful and marred by "operational errors". Erdogan later issued a statement accepting the apology on behalf of the Turkish people. Israel also said it would compensate the victims' families. Israel initially declared that the countries had agreed to restore normal diplomatic relations, including the return of ambassadors and cancellation of Turkish legal proceedings in absentia against Israeli troops involved in the raid, but this statement was later omitted. U.S. President Barack Obama, whose visit to Israel coincided with these events and was credited with brokering the reconciliation, said that the U.S. "attached great importance to the restoration of positive relations between [Israel and Turkey] in order to advance regional peace and security." Further tension In August 2013, Erdoğan told AKP's provincial chairs that Israel was responsible for the July 2013 overthrow of Mohamed Morsi in Egypt. He based this claim on a video posted by Tzipi Livni speaking to French intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy during which Levy said: "The Muslim Brotherhood will not be in power even if they win the elections, because democracy is not the ballot box." However, according to Hürriyet, Levy actually said: "If the Muslim Brotherhood arrives in Egypt, I will not say democracy wants it, so let democracy progress. Democracy is not only elections, it is also values...I will urge the prevention of [the Muslim Brotherhood] coming to power, but by all sorts of means." The Israeli Foreign Ministry stated that Erdoğan's accusation was "a statement well worth not commenting on." Egypt's interim government rejected Erdoğan's claim, describing it as "baseless," "very bewildering," and charged that "its purpose [was] to strike at the unity of Egyptians." With the scandal over alleged Turkish involvement in exposure of Israeli special agents in Iran in October 2013, the relations between Israel and Turkey declined further. Normalisation of diplomatic ties (2015–present) In December 2015, Turkey and Israel began talks to restore diplomatic ties; however disagreements between the sides continue. March 2016 Istanbul bombing On 19 March 2016, a suicide bombing by ISIL took place in Istanbul's Beyoğlu district. Among those killed were two dual Israel-US nationals and one Israeli national. Following the attack Erdogan wrote a letter of condolences to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, saying he was "very sorry" to hear that three Israelis