The ongoing diplomatic crisis between Jerusalem and Ankara seemed to take a turn for the worse when about 40 Israeli passengers on Turkish Airlines flight 793 were detained Monday after their plane landed at Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul. The Israeli passengers were separated from other passengers, held behind a barrier, had their passports confiscated, were interrogated and underwent a series of harsh security procedures, including being ordered to undress. The incident occurred on the same day that the Turkish Foreign Ministry instructed top-level Israeli embassy officials in Ankara that they had until Wednesday to leave the country. We landed as a regular flight filled with business people and went to the passport control stations, said Hayuta Leibowitz, an Israeli businesswoman and one of the passengers detained by Turkish authorities. The authorities told all the Israelis to gather in a corner of the terminal. They confiscated our passports and did not let us enter the country. A large number of police gathered near us. For each one of us, there were two police. After about two hours of standing in the fenced corner, they returned our passports. I have been traveling to Turkey for 10 years now, and something like this has never happened before. If this is the situation, we will go where we are wanted. Another passenger detained by the Turkish authorities, Rivka Baruch, told Channel 10 news: They brought us into a dark room and some passengers were told to undress. They even searched the belt around my pants. What can I say? It wasn't normal. Frightening. Baruch's daughter, Viki Cohen, added, We were distressed, and had an unpleasant experience. They abused us and we are still shaken by this incident. Orit, another Israeli passenger, told Israel Radio that she had been ordered into a dark room by two female security guards, told to strip, and subjected to a full body search, including her private parts. She was spoken to only in Turkish, even when she responded and asked questions in English. I was left only in my underwear, without a bra. I understand now what it must have felt like in the Holocaust, when people just carried out orders without asking questions, Orit said. She said about 20 Israelis had been brought into the interrogation room and placed in a corner. Orit said the Israeli men in the group told them that a Turkish policeman had apologized, saying he had been given orders to detain the Israelis. Israeli government officials expressed their belief on Monday that the incident was an isolated one. This seemed to be corroborated by other Israelis who returned to Ben-Gurion International Airport from Turkey on Monday and said they had not experienced anything untoward. We did not notice anything unusual in the behavior of the Turks, Sara Alduby said. The Turks treated us perfectly, Shmulik Katlan agreed. Despite this, Israeli diplomats asked their counterparts in Ankara for an explanation of the incident. An Israeli diplomat said all the possible scenarios for a Turkish response to Israel's refusal to apologize for the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident had been taken into account. We were not surprised at the incident at the airport, the diplomat said. The Turks declared that they would try to harm Israel, whether through The Hague International Court or through other means. We hope that our ongoing efforts to stop the degradation of our relations with Turkey, with America's help, will eventually yield the desired results and the situation will calm down. Turkish travelers humiliated at Ben-Gurion Unconfirmed Turkish media reports Monday said that a group of 50 Turkish tourists who had landed in Israel Sunday night were detained at Ben-Gurion airport and interrogated. Some Turks claimed on Monday that the humiliation of the Israelis was a response to the humiliation of the Turkish travelers in Israel. The Turkish travelers claimed that when they arrived at Ben-Gurion, they were separated from the other passengers and taken to isolated rooms, where they underwent body checks. They [the Israelis] immediately told a group from Bucharest to pass through, but they took us to dressing rooms, undressed us, and took our shoes. They searched our bodies physically and using scanners, Turkish passenger Arif Sinar said. The head of the Turkish group of passengers, Ayup Ansar Ogud, said the flight was detained because of security checks. They even checked my handkerchief a few times, Ogud said. According to an Army Radio report on Monday, Israeli Manufacturers Association President and Honorary Consul for Turkey in Israel Shraga Brosh said that for many years Turkish travelers had been treated poorly upon their arrival at Ben-Gurion airport. I don't think we need to worry about traveling to Turkey, and I am not defending the Turks. It was obviously a coordinated act by the Turks, Brosh said on Army Radio. But we should be honest and remember that Turks and others who visit us have also been humiliated on quite a number of occasions, for many years now. Foreign Ministry officials said that they had not received any complaints about abnormal behavior on the part of security officials at Ben-Gurion. Airports Authority Chariman Koby Mor said on Monday that the attempt to connect airport security issues to the crisis between Israel and Turkey was not realistic. Our security officials do their work day and night, protecting the planes and their passengers at Ben-Gurion airport. No one should make cynical use of their work. The Airports Authority will continue to do everything it can to ensure the safety of all passengers at the airport, Mor said. Israeli tourists avoid Turkey, for now Due to the ongoing tensions between Ankara and Jerusalem, Israeli tourists have chosen to avoid Turkey in recent months. While business trips have continued, leisure trips have eased off. Ofir Tours deputy head Yehuda Zafrani was guardedly optimistic about Israeli tourists returning to Turkey for the approaching Jewish holiday season. We are not talking about returning to the levels of 2008, when more than half a million Israelis visited Turkey each year, Zafrani said. We are talking now only about 150,000. Reactions to the crisis Meanwhile, Defense Ministry Political-Security Bureau head Amos Gilad told Israel Radio on Tuesday that Turkey had not severed its ties with Israel. He insisted that, contrary to media reports, Israel's military attache in Turkey was continuing his work there, and that Turkey had a lot to lose by its extreme behavior. According to Israel Radio, Arshad Al-Hurmuzi, the Turkish presidents adviser on Middle East affairs, said Tuesday that friendly countries had tried to mediate between Israel and Turkey to bring about an end to the crisis, but an internal Israeli argument prevented this from happening. Hurmuzi said Turkey was adamant about receiving an apology from Israel for the deaths of its citizens in the raid on the Mavi Marmara. Turkey also expects Israel to compensate the families of those killed, and to remove the naval blockade on the Gaza Strip. Hurmuzi said Ankara was still waiting for Israel's reaction to the diplomatic measures it has taken, and that if Israel refused to accede to Turkey's demands, Ankara would seek alternative ways to force Israel to apologize.