By Ido Ben Porat (INN) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday hosted at his palace in Ankara a number of rabbis from Muslim countries as well as representatives from the Jewish community in Turkey.

Erdogan told the rabbis, including Russia’s rabbi Rabbi Berel Lazar, that “relations between Turkey and Israel will always be strong – and will continue to grow. Normalizing relations with Israel is important. It will happen soon.”