IDF Chief: We're probing Gaza flotilla raid to glean lessons for next time

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi said Sunday that the army was investigating the events of the recent clash aboard a Gaza-bound aid ship in order to "learn lessons for next time."

	IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi
	Photo by: Moran Maayan

On May 31, Israeli navy commandos boarded the Mavi Marmara, a part of a flotilla of ships aiming to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip and deliver supplies to the Hamas-ruled territory. The commandos were met with violence and the ensuing confrontation left nine Turkish activists dead, and dozens of people hurt.

"We are facing an entire expedition, well planned and funded, of delegitimization by our enemies," Ashkenazi said during an event honoring wounded infantry soldiers. "The nations opposite us, headed by Iran, are trying to embarrass Israel's government and its citizens with intentional provocations on the seas and elsewhere," he said.

Ashkenazi described a recent visit to hospitals where commandos who were hurt aboard the Turkish aid ship were being treated, saying that "now I can say without a doubt that the fighters acted in the appropriate fashion, considering the danger they were facing."

Israel, meanwhile, appeared to grow more isolated in the fallout of the raid as Defense Minister Ehud Barak abruptly canceled plans Sunday to visit Paris.

Barak's office said he canceled his trip while Israel forms a committee to investigate the raid. The statement denied that the decision was connected to attempts by pro-Palestinian groups to seek his arrest.

Defense officials said Barak was concerned about the unwanted attention his visit would attract. In particular, they pointed to the heavy media attention and difficult questions he would face as well as the heightened security arrangements the visit would require. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

Activists have previously tried unsuccessfully to arrest Barak and other Israeli officials in Europe under the principle of universal jurisdiction.

In another development, several Turkish educators and officials pulled out of an international Holocaust education conference in Israel to protest the raid, organizers said. The raid, which resulted in the deaths of nine Turkish activists, has severely strained ties between former regional and military allies Turkey and Israel.