Israel said on Sunday that Turkey had excluded it from an air exercise over Turkish territory, leading to the drill's cancellation, in a move an Israeli official described as a blow to NATO and U.S. interests.
Israel's military said in a statement the joint exercise, scheduled to begin on Monday in NATO-member Turkey, takes place every few years but was postponed indefinitely after Ankara removed Israel from the list of participants.
Turkey, a secular Muslim country, has been a key ally to Israel, but relations have cooled over Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's outspoken criticism of Israel's three-week offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in December and January. source
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