Netanyahu to Gaza flotilla probe: IDF coordinated the deadly raid
PM tells Turkel Commission that he had put Defense Minister Barak in charge of the operation during his North American visit.
By Barak Ravid and Haaretz Service Tags: Israel news Gaza flotilla Benjamin NetanyahuStory Highlights
- Nine people were killed when Israel Navy commandos boarded ship on May 31
- Commandos came under attack from activists on board Mavi Marmara
- Israel set up internal probe into incident, headed by former Supreme Court chief justice Jacob Turkel
The Israel Defense Forces was responsible for deciding how to carry out the raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla of ships that ended in bloody clashes and the deaths of nine people, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday told an Israeli commission of inquiry into the incident.
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Benjamin Netanyahu speaking before the Turkel Gaza flotilla probe committee, August 9, 2010. |
| Photo by: Mark Israel |
On May 31, Israel Navy commandos boarded the six ships that made up the flotilla, which was primarily made up of activists from a Turkish organization, in an effort to prevent them from breaking through an Israeli marine blockade and reaching Gaza. The naval commandos who boarded the sixth ship - the Mavi Marmara - were met with violence and the nine were killed in the subsequent clashes.
The incident exacerbated tensions between Israel and Turkey, whose formerly friendly relations had been strained by a three-week Israel Defense Forces operation in the Gaza Strip in December 2008.
When asked by the head of the panel, retired chief justice Jacob Turkel, whether or not it was the IDF which decided the means by which to halt the flotilla, Netanyahu said, "Yes, that's standard procedure." He added that it is the role of politicians "to determine policy" while "it is up to the military to execute it."
"The IDF had always decided on the ways in which to enforce the blockade [on Gaza] and has done its job well," the prime minister said, saying that this was the "division of labor."
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Benjamin Netanyahu arriving to testify to the Turkel panel on the Gaza aid flotilla, in Jerusalem August 9, 2010. |
| Photo by: Reuters |
When asked by the commission how the decision on military action was received, Netanyahu said that that all of those involved "felt that the raid was a last resort, and the instructions were to conduct it with as little friction as possible."
"The IDF had looked into several options, as per my instructions, but also according to the instructions of the defense minister and the chief of staff," Netanyahu said.
When panel member Amos Horev's asked which options were considered, Netanyahu evaded the question, instead asking to discuss the matter behind closed doors.
When asked by former justice Turkel who Netanyahu had put in charge of the operation during his trip to the United States a few days prior to the flotilla's arrival, the PM named Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
"I want there to be one person," Netanyahu said, adding that Barak had been "that person, I had a very important meeting with [U.S. President Barack] Obama."
The prime minister also told the commission that the implications of a military operation was discussed during the May 26 meeting of senior cabinet members known as the Forum of Seven, but said that the discussion had centered more around the public relations fallout the operation might have.
"We didn't discuss the details of the operation, except for the media impact," Netanyahu said. He declined to answer several questions from panel members, saying he would only respond to them behind closed doors.
Regarding the information Israel had received prior to the flotilla's arrival, Netanyahu said that Israel had known that the convoy had been organized by the IHH, which was declared a terror organization more than a year prior by the defense minister.
According to the PM, It was obvious that the "flotilla organizers were interested with clashing with the IDF," adding that that was the information "that I had as well as that which every other member of the Forum of Seven had as well as any official who dealt with the matter."
Netanyahu's opening statement: Panel will find Israel had acted within the law
In opening remarks given prior to the panel's questioning, Netanyahu praised the mission set forth by the panel saying, "no country or army examines itself more thoroughly than Israel and the IDF."
He continued by reiterating what he saw as the importance of Israel's naval blockade of Gaza, saying that the measure was intended to stop shipments of arms from arriving at the Hamas-ruled Strip.
"Hamas has transformed the Gaza Strip into a terrorist enclave sponsored by Iran," Netanyahu said, describing the "thousands of rockets and missiles" Iran supplies as well as the "military training and funding" that Iran gives to Hamas.
Netanyahu said he hoped the panel would emphasize in its report Hamas's violations of international law: "inciting to genocide; systematically and intentionally firing on civilians; using civilians as human shields; and preventing visits by the Red Cross to kidnapped IDF soldier, Gilad Shalit."
Netanyahu added that the world was bent on considering the situation in Gaza as a humanitarian crisis, even though there had been photos published of Gaza market stalls filled "to the brim" with food. Food and medicine had all been allowed into Gaza, the Prime Minister noted.
"While we did prevent a humanitarian crisis, we did not succeed in preventing the image of a humanitarian crisis – an image that was entirely false," Netanyahu said.
The Karin A, a ship intercepted by Israel carrying Iranian weapons, was used as evidence by the Prime Minister to denote the danger of an "open sea lane to Gaza."
Netanyahu described efforts that the government made in the month before the flotilla left for Gaza.
"During the month of May, a continual diplomatic effort to this end was made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs vis-a-vis many countries, including countries whose citizens were on-board or whose harbors could be used by the flotilla at any stage of its voyage – including Egypt, Greece, Cyprus, Ireland, Britain, the United Nations, and above all with Turkey," Netanyahu said.
Elaborating on the political contacts that were made, Netanyahu said that on May 14, his office contacted some of the "highest ranking" Turkish officials. The ensuing conversation was on preventing a violent confrontation, Netanyahu noted. He said that on May 27, four days before the raid, he personally appealed to a senior official in Egyptian government and requested that they work in conjunction with the government of Turkey.
"Nonetheless, it became clear that these political efforts would not stop the ship," Netanyahu said. "Given the lack of effective pressure by the Turkish government and the lack of any desire on the part of the flotilla organizers to redirect their ships to alternative ports, none of the diplomatic efforts were effective."
Netanyahu wrapped up his statement by saying the IDF soldiers had the right to defend themselves against the violent activists who, as seen in the videos released, attacked them with clubs, knives, and live weapons.
The Turkel comission's mandate
The panel investigating the raid on a the Turkish Gaza flotilla was recently granted greater authority after Turkel told the government the committee could not do its job without expanded investigative powers.
Until the change in the committee's mandate, the panel was only supposed to determine whether Israel's efforts to stop the flotilla from reaching Gaza accorded with international law, and whether the soldiers' use of force was proportionate.
It had no power to subpoena witnesses and could not draw personal conclusions against those involved in the raid.
However, following Turkel's demand to turn the panel into a full-fledged governmental inquiry committee with real teeth, the committee was granted the power to subpoena witnesses and documents, warn those who testify before it that the panel's findings could harm them, and hire outside experts in relevant fields.
The committee does not, however, have the authority to subpoena IDF soldiers.
Soldiers and officers instead testified before the internal army probe into the raid's operational aspects that was headed by Maj. Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland, who is scheduled to present his findings to the Turkel Committee.
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Mr. Netanyahu: Who is running the show ? You were elected to run the State of Israel not IDF, hope I am right there ... Even if IDF coordinated the deadly raid ... you are the captain of the ship ... If you have any dignity and honor you would stand up and take the full responsibility. But that even you lack ... the honor part !!!
The military concedes that it did not offer all possible options to the Cabinet. But the Cabinet (of 7) includes 2 former Chiefs of Staff (Barak and Ya'alon), and a former commando officer (Netanyahu). They should have asked questions, especially when there was an obvious question to ask: Is there a way to disable the ships by placing a chain or net over the propeller? The Cabinet people are not supposed to just listen politely but to also look for alternatives. And indeed, the Navy tested the idea of carrying a chain between two fast boats in order to disable a big ship in between them It worked only half the time. Well, if you try it twice, chances of success are 3/4 and if tried thrice, success probability goes up to 7/8. I imagine somebody asked the navy about this, received their answer, and didn't do the math.
I'm sure the commission will subpoena ALL the footage the IDF shot, and all the footage from the seized cameras, and make that part of the public record. (I also planted some beans recently, and am eagerly anticipating climbing up the beanstalk and getting some golden eggs)
..... of course, he is setting out the overall political requirement and the IDF is responsible to do it, This is standard dividing of responsibilities in big companies as well as in governments. And if Kadima objects, that means they are ignorant of the most basic behaviour requirement.. Moreover, the behaviour of the IDF was impeccable. Except legally, maybe....Maybe yes and maybe not....we shall have to wait and see.....
acted within the law... of course. The Kings Torah.
Right after the raid on the Marmara the Navy claimed that the ship was not disabled because it would have taken days to bring her to port. Now, Eiland accepts the Navy's new improved claim that there was no safe way to disable the ship. This seems a fishy claim, also because a safe way is well known: Disable the motor and propeller by throwing a net or chain over it. The passengers could then have been evacuated by any ship in the sea, not necessarily Israeli, and goodbye. I am afraid this claim of the Navy is the easiest to falsify and thus discredit the entire "internal IDF investigation". As became known, the Navy actually TESTED the disabling approach, carrying a chain between two fast boats. It rejected this trick because it only worked half the time. So what? You try it twice with 75% of success, or 3 times with 87.5% success probability. Perhaps nobody there could work out the math... Needless to say, the fact that the soldiers were not trained to deal with hostile civilians is also remarkable and problematic.
If Barak is THE expert on national defense, Israel is indeed in trouble. Let us take a look at Barak's most famous recent actions: 1. The 2007 bombing of alleged Syrian nuclear reactor. The IAF carries out a brilliant attack, except that it would have been much better not to destroy the facility but to inform IAEA, then see Syria under UN sanctions, as Iran is today. Syria got off scot free, and a nuclear facility there was never certified officially by IAEA. A major failure of Israeli statesmanship.// 2. Operation Cast lead in Gaza (2008/9). The IDF avoids contact with Hamas to reduce casualties. There are mostly IAF bombings, which is fine except that the operation lasts 22 days instead of 2-3 days. When all you want is to destroy, better stop when all targets are gone. Beyond this you simply accummulate war crimes.// 3. The "flotilla" incident. Passengers' reaction was not taken into account even though according to Netanyahu they were known to be "hostile". The Turks lost 9 people, and everybody in Israel considers this a failure, as it should be.// What is the sourse of Barak's failure? It is very obvious, Barak does not understand how normal civilized people react to his actions. This lack of understanding of human reaction is the root of Barak's failure as a politician but, strangely, it affects seriously his military actions as well. The man is a good strategist but with a faulty political head.
away in the USA, at that time... so the question remains "who was the scapegoat"? Ashkenazi or the infamous deputy-PM who slept-through-it-all...?
"the buck stops here"....
Bibi is trying to save his a** by puting all the responsibility on IDF.
That's like a murder suspect acquitting himself.. This is why this kind of inquiry have to be unbiased.. Israel cannot participate in this inquiry without being biased, it is in their best interest to acquit themselves no matter what. What should be the most important, is to come to the TRUTH, no matter what that should be.. I truly hope that will be the result of this inquiry, The truth..
I have searched the internet news for details of the Turkish inquiry into the blockade busting attempt by Turkish Nationals, who sits on the panel? what is thier agenda? are some answers given in 'camera' ? oh wait a minute, its only Israel again subjected to scrutiny over every detail of her daily life.
I admire the Jewish people - the normal,ordinary people- the Jewish heritage and the spirit of community all around the world! Yet it's saddening to see such a valuable nation being under continuous, increasing criticism and contempt because of the irresponsible political and military decisions and actions during the last decade. You Jewish people used to be wise and smart, how can you stand such miserable politicians and military rule your country and lives?
I guess we got smarter.
don't be so patronising, instead, ask yourself (or do some reading before posting comments) what has been going on these past few decades, not only in this region but also around the world - maybe you will be able to see something else beside the propaganda fed to you by the media
More for its survival than EVER BEFORE,and not from one side only,but from every part of the world who is attacking it verbally That is the difference between the older leaderships than the ones NOW. Imagine if you were attacked constantly from all sides if you'd stand by and nor resist the inflamatory accusations levelled at Israel without rhyme or cogent reason.This flotilla incident perpetrated by the JIHADIST IHH( who are now on the list of a terror group).The IDF went in to calm the activist,to inspect the cargoe? And what did they get? The 9 who were real fascists attacking IDF with clubs,knives,chains,granades..Even threw one soldiers overboard.They injured many IDF seriously too.And here THEY DEMAND AN ENQUIRY? Ludicrous and totally unacceptable. What would you have done vandervaal?
I can certify that I don't see Israel's fall. Whatever it is that you see, you see it through skewed lenses.
The land Israel occupies was attributed to it by the United Nations. So what is all this nonsense about illegal occupation?? The Arabs refused to accept a binding UN resolution. So who is at fault? Not Israel.
What UN resolution?
What UN resolution?
SECTION V : NEUTRAL MERCHANT VESSELS AND CIVIL AIRCRAFT Neutral merchant vessels 67. Merchant vessels flying the flag of neutral States may not be attacked unless they: (a) are believed on reasonable grounds to be carrying contraband or breaching a blockade, and after prior warning they intentionally and clearly refuse to stop, or intentionally and clearly resist visit, search or capture;
This only stands if the blockade itself is legal. Good luck trying to justify years of collective punishment and broken Geneva conventions.
Which in Gaza's case was within ten miles of the gazan coastline. Declaring a naval blockade does not give a nation the right to stop shipping whenever or wherever they want.
Sure, it's legal to enforce a legitimate blockade, but I can't, for instance, just say, I'm blockading all goods going to Italy, therefore I have the legal right to attack any ship headed for Italy that refuses to stop.' As Israel itself admitted after the Freeddom Flotilla incident, the blockade was illegal because it included all sorts of goods of no possible military use. The blockade was, in fact, illegal collective punishment.
Which the Tukish ship announced it would do
Where is that written? So far as I can see it is only talking about armed conflict. And the blockade is legal. And the conflict is an internal matter between Israel the self-governing Gaza (Home rule).
"the damage to the civilian population is, or may be expected to be, excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated from the blockade."
The world knows your equivocation and tricks. Save time and comply with Turkish terms to end the crisis,your people missed Turkey, and Liberman misleaded them when he feared them from visiting Turkey.
This is not the UN Inquiry. This is the Israeli one that was reluctantly so Israelis could find out some of what really happened before the UN inquiry. Presumably, the panel gets to ask at least softball questions. According to the story, that is the case. We'll see if it happens or not. So will the Israeli people.
It is like Netanyahu saying that Mahatma Gandhi hid weapons beneath his dhoti and shawl to fight the British.
but others around the world are not buying it.... No sir, none at all......Dutch
right bibi?
you are no exception
Could you explain just what acts of terror these 9 people committed? We have seen the video showing clearly they could have killed the Israeli soldiers, and didn't.
Duhhh.
... of a ship to see if you bounce on a lower deck? And if you live, would you believe I was a nice guy because you didn't die?
An attack on a ship in international water must be legal if the zionist did it. Just out of Somalia, of course we call the same action PIRACY.
Remeber Israel is at war with Hamas. All means justified.
making all rockets fired at civilians and suicide bombings justified?
Israel is guilty.
Omg..Israel Will cooperate With UN investigators!! Wts going on !! We must be careful in dealing with Israeli actions And what israelis say.. These statements by Israeli officials come at a time before the decision of the United Nations over the assassination of Rafik Hariri Israel wants to say that we are cooperating with the United Nations and we also belive in the peace and Lebanese have to belive decition of the international court. by the way United Nations will not issue any resolution condemning Israel over Gaza flotilla becouse Israel has fabricated all the facts in ashdod port
It seems like Bibi is ordering Turkel's comittee how to decide. This comittee's hands are tied.
otherwise there is the possibility of filtering out the relevent invo...
If the (naval) blockade is to stop weapons, why are so many other items blocked from entering Gaza, and why are good blocked from leaving Gaza ?
Pencils can be turned into rockets, apparently. Children's clothing can warm children and protect from sunburn. Bricks made without straw are not as bullet proof.
Yep. And what about human movement to and from Gaza?? Israel is Israel's worst enemy. .
and you suggest that we inspect each and every incoming parcel right? Nuthead
You asked a good question, hinting that Israel's true intention is illegitimately punishing Gazans. However, this has changed since then. They now allow most things into Gaza and essentially they relaxed the blockade to a point where you can deliver goods from Sinai without Israel's inspection.
and the Maori are NZ worth enemy
You control and exclude them from 35% of their farmland, on pain of death. You bombed their only food processing plant. You pump out a majority of their aquifer. Yeah, if you need to, inspect everything and pay for the inspections, too. That is a cost of making war on somebody. Alternatively, you might consider ending the war started in 1967.
The point you are missing is that all this aid does get to gazza, Israel delivers it daily.
WOW!
The blockade hasn't stopped weapons entering gaza and is in fact a smokescreen. By deciding what goods can go in and out of gaza and more importantly prevented 1.5 million people freedom of movement is because the siege of gaza supports the economy of Southern Israel. Israel could force the issue overnight by sealing it's border and refusing all exports saying they can go throught the Rafah crossing. Allowing the water treatment plants and power station into Gaza (something they have prevented for two years) The fact is without gaza Southern Israel's economy would collapse.
Really? I know there was a policy change after the Flotilla attacks, but has it actually been implemented? The last mention was by Catherine Ashton when she visited a month ago, and it still hadn't come into force then.
Israel allows one crossing to be open occasionally, averaging 3 days a week on a good week. That is the "easing."
There is nothing more telling then an individual who thinks he is making clever remarks, as a sign of how intelligent he is. Mark, your comments on this site are tedious.
... had a complete open border policy with them, tourists, exchange students, etc. Japanese people had complete access to all parts of USA. I don't see why Gazans should not have the same priviliges in Israel. Right? Right? Anyone? LOL.
the essential purpose of the naval blockade on gaza is to stop the smuggling of missiles and of other war materials into the territory of gaza. said missles have been used to target communities in israel sovereign territory and as such are acts of war and of war crimes. israel has every legal right under international law to defend her sovereignty and her civilian population against all and any acts of war and act of terror emanating from gaza.
Israel has imprisoned all democratically elected members of the palestinain parlament , because they were memebrs of the politcal party Hamas. Do you expect that Israel would remain silent and peaceful if the members of the parlament of the Shas party would be imprisoned by the Palestinains?? Shas is the same extremist party as Hamas. The main difference is that it is a jewish party , who represents the God´s chosen people.
For meit is a question of whether the place where the IDF took over the ship was in international waters or was the area illegal. What happened then can be seen all over the internet and it is on record that the Flotilla refused to go to Israel or Egypt to be checked. I feel very safe in Tel Aviv because of our wonderful armed forces..
To me its essential that all living homo-sapiens have the right of using goods for a better life and environment. It is not essential that some overconfidence can make you think to decide what is essential. The world and big brother is looking forward to c some of your essential "piecefull" aproach.
Chicken and egg, which came first? There was no Hamas until Israel occupied Palestine and commenced its sordid land theft programme. Hamas is a result of Israel's actions. If a country wants to go occupying and colonising its neighbours, it must expect to meet resistance, just as Israel triggered in Lebanon with Hezbollah. The blockade of Gaza is illegal under the Geneva conventions, an army can't lay siege to a civilian area and prevent access, egress and essential supplies getting in, all three are prohibited. Israel never seems to understand that it's its own Zionist policies of strutting round the region stealing land, breaking every conceivable law and shooting up the neighbours that has created the tapestry of problems it now faces.
A tired argument defending the indefensible which quite frankly bores most including me.
....then the blockade should be lifted. Correct, Cipora?
Mossad/shin bet actually created Hamas funded them and armed them as a religious alternative to the PLO , but it back fired. Better the devil you know
There is no occupied Palestine. WB was Jordanian territory and Gaza was Egypt territory. And booth Country refuses to take this territory back when they sign peace treaty. Gaza and W.B. are Israeli unincorporated land
the west bank is a good example to follow. however, since there is no formal cease fire, let alone peace treaty among the parties. total freedom of movement might not be achieved.
can you please tell me where is Palastine,never seen it on a map
now did Israel behave vis-a-vis the flotillas... especially on the fatal Marmara...
.... the first group that went down DID NOT SHOOT although they were beaten so brutally that it is a miracle they didn't die. They actually were prepared to die the way they behaved according to their orders. Only later did Israelis shoot to kill and rightly so! Against pure animals.
I see that you have swallowed the LIES and are regurgitating them with great relish. Do us a favour and come back when you've actually studied history and not propaganda.
....and I said so but it wasn't published. You alone against all, including Esther....c'est la vie dans ce journal....
surely you mean imprisoned murderers? you dont know who they really are, do you? so easy to keep repeating 'democratically elected' ...
Forget and dismiss.The said blockade will remain until Gaza is emptied of weapons all that are lobbed daily at the innocent civilians in Israeli towns. No matter what the naysayers here say.BLOCKADE OF GAZA IS AN ESSENCIAL PART of defending Israel. The rest is mere speculation by the ones who are advocating the the blockade being illigal. Which country world wide would allow its cities being bombarded daily.Let Mark be subjected to the same where he lives.Then we'll hear the COMPLAINTS no doubt.
Everytime. It is getting beyond belief by its repetitiveness with the stupid flotilla that should be thrown away as one of the BIGGEST false accusation against Israel. The damn flotlla was warned to go to Ashdod and they refused.What was the reason for that? It was to gain not only propaganda but ready to attack the IDF PREPARED WITH ALL THE WEAPONS AT THEIR DISPOSAL.And injured the soldiers in the process.Additionally werethe IDF were about to be LINCHED
He was captured. As a member of IDF he was a legitimate target.
Most rational people accept that thousands of religions had been and gone long before the Torah came into existence. You disagree, fine, but don't try to lecture the rest of the world about a belief for which you have no practical evidence at all. It anyway has nothing to do with the flotilla, or even the resistance from Gaza that you appear to want to pin the blame on for Israel's actions. All you need to know in that respect is that the rest of the world is neither fooled nor persuaded by Israel's aggressive and deadly adventures against civilians on the high seas, which is why Bibi is having to attend an inquiry and why there's a more objective international one right round the corner at the UN. Whatever the Torah has to say on the matter will not be accepted as evidence at either.