The dispute comes after the deputy minister, Danny Ayalon (above), summoned the ambassador, Oguz Celikkolits, to rebuke him over a TV series. Photo by daylife.com
Turkey has said it will recall its ambassador unless a row over his treatment by Israel's deputy foreign minister is rapidly resolved.
The dispute comes after the deputy minister, Danny Ayalon, summoned the ambassador, Oguz Celikkolits, to rebuke him over a TV series, ‘Valley of the Wolves’, which depicts Israeli intelligence operatives kidnapping babies and converting them to Judaism.
He then ensured the ambassador was seated on a lower chair and removed the Turkish flag from the table, the BBC reported.
In an attempt to defuse the row, Ayalon said disrespect "is not my way".
He said in future he would behave "in a diplomatically acceptable manner".
But Turkey has demanded a formal apology from Israel.
"Unless they make up for it by this evening, our ambassador will return on the first plane tomorrow," President Abdullah Gul was quoted as saying by the NTV news channel.