TEL AVIV, January 13, 2010 (WAFA)-  Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon issued a special statement of apology Tuesday night for his treatment of Turkish ambassador to Israel Ahmet Oguz Celikkol on Monday, daily Haaretz said.

 Ayalon had delivered a rebuke to Celikkol regarding an anti-Israeli television show in Turkey. 'My protest of the attacks against Israel in Turkey still stands,' Ayalon said. 'However, it is not my way to insult foreign ambassadors and in the future I will clarify my position by more acceptable diplomatic means.'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday expressed satisfaction with Ayalon's apology. Netanyahu added that the deputy foreign minister's protest was justified, but that he should have used acceptable diplomatic means to express his outrage.

At the beginning of the conversation with the Turkish envoy on Monday, Ayalon told cameramen in Hebrew: 'Pay attention that he is sitting in a lower chair ... that there is only an Israeli flag on the table and that we are not smiling.'

The put-down enraged Turkey and deepened the rift that has emerged over the past year between the Jewish state and its closest friend in the Muslim world.

The Turkish ambassador and the Turkish government were furious at the humiliation of the envoy. In a sharply worded ultimatum to Israel earlier Tuesday, Ankara demanded an apology for what it described as Ayalon's demeaning treatment of its ambassador on Monday.

Headlines in Turkish newspapers on Wednesday reflected the deep outrage over the incident.

Foreign ministry officials as saying Ankara was not satisfied with Ayalon's statements and expected a serious apology. The officials also suggested that Celikkol could be recalled if Israel didn't comply.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said at a press conference in London that relations between Israel and Turkey will return to normal 'when Israel resumes a peaceful policy.'

Israeli Security Minister Ehud Barak is scheduled to travel to Ankara on Sunday for meetings with his counterpart and Foreign Minister Davutoglu.