U.S. wants Turkey to ease tensions with Israel

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Turkey on Monday not to do anything to worsen its relationship with Israel.

The Obama administration is seeking to preserve close ties with Turkey, an increasingly assertive economic and military power in the region that has become a champion of democracy movements roiling the Arab world. Israeli-Turkish relations have spiraled downward in recent weeks with the release of a U.N. report on the 2010 flotilla raid, in which Israeli commandos raid killed nine Turkish activists, and Israel's refusal to apologize to Ankara.

PM Erdogan's government has expelled Israel's envoy, frozen military cooperation and warned that the Turkish navy could escort future aid flotillas -- raising the prospect of confrontation between Turkey and the Jewish state.

PM Erdogan has also kept up a stream of harsh rhetoric against Israel, using a tour of Arab states last week to support a Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations and chide Israel as a spoiled client of the West.