Israel army chief says flotilla troops acted 'proportionately'

By Jeremy Last - Thursday 12th August 2010


Israel's internal investigation into May's deadly naval raid on a Turkish aid ship began this week, with the prime minister and defence minister both giving evidence.

Former Supreme Court justice Jacob Turkel's panel began cross examining witnesses on Sunday morning, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu first to take the stand.

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Netanyahu used it as an opportunity to blame Turkey for failing to heed Israeli warnings about the dangers of allowing the Mavi Marmara ship to attempt to break the Israeli naval blockade on Gaza.

Nine Turkish activists were killed after Israeli commandos stormed the vessel and were reportedly faced with violence from those on board.

Also this week, the United Nations inquiry into the events of May 31 held its first meeting. The panel is headed by former prime minister of New Zealand Geoffrey Palmer and vice-chaired by outgoing President of Colombia Alvaro Uribe.

After unexpectedly agreeing to cooperate with the UN probe, Israel announced that Yosef Ciechanover will be its representative on the panel.
Ciechanover, a former director-general of the Foreign Ministry and legal adviser to the Defence Ministry, and head of the defense mission to the US, was joined by Turkish diplomat Özdem Sanberk.

Diplomatic relations between Israel and Turkey were further hit this week, after Netanyahu’s accusation that the Turks should have done more to prevent the Mavi Maramara clashes from ever occurring.

The Israeli Premier said Defense Minister Ehud Barak had been in contact with the Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu for days leading up to the conflict but nothing could be done to convince the Turks to halt the flotilla of boats, which included the Mavi Marmara, from sailing towards Gaza.

"Despite our continuous diplomatic efforts, ultimately the Turkish government did not prevent the attempt by the Marmara to violate the naval blockade," Netanyahu said. "It appears that (Turkey) did not see in the prospect of a clash between Turkish activists and Israel something that clashed with its interests..."



The comments attracted ire from Davutoglu himself, who refused to accept any responsiblity.

"No one else can take the blame for killing civilians in international waters," Davutoglu said in response to Netanyahu's remarks. "Israel has killed civilians, and should take the responsibility for having done so."
In their testimony both Netanyahu and Barak explained that the decision to raid the ship had come after a meeting attended by the pair and the five other members of the inner cabinet.

However, while praising the commandos' bravery for defending themselves against attack, Barak and Netanyahu also stressed that final culpability for the situation stands with the army itself.

And his testimony on Wednesday, IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi agreed, saying he represents all soldiers in the army and therefore takes responsibility for their actions.

"The soldiers legitimately opened fire and shot those who they needed to shot and not those who they didn’t need to shoot," he said.

"I am proud of the soldiers that we have," Ashkenazi added. "The IDF is a transparent organisation that learns from each operation and knows how to investigate itself."




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