Jerusalem, Israel - In the tense climate between Israel and Turkey after the May 31 attack on the Gaza-bound flotilla that left nine Turks dead, two young politicians are seeking to bypass political bickering and promote moderate voices in the two countries.

Jerusalem City Council member Hilik Bar, who oversees foreign relations and tourism for the municipality, invited Tuna Beklevic, head of the young but rapidly growing Strong Turkey Party, to spend a day with him in the city.

Bar, in an initiative he is promoting as an Ambassador for Peace, told the Jerusalem Post that his guest had come “to witness that Israelis are not the devil, as some Turkish politicians draw us. [Beklevic] believed, like me, that the next generation of Israelis and Turks can have a fateful role in the future of the two countries.”

Read the article in the Jerusalem Post.