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1. Two More Boats on Their Way to Gaza
by Hillel Fendel
IDF General Staff Operations Commander Col. Itzik Turjeman told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday that two additional ships of the militant left flotilla are on their way to Gaza. He said they will be stopped as well, hinting that electronic means, or others, might be used.
Asked why the S.S. Marmaris was not physically stopped by the Navy without risking helicopter-borne soldiers rappelling down into a lynch mob, Turjeman said that the Marmaris is too large and heavy to have been physically blocked by navy ships.
MK Tzachi HaNegbi (Kadima), Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, opened the session with these
remarks:
“After Operation Cast Lead, the government decided to impose a maritime blockade on Gaza [in accordance with international law governing parties in a state of armed conflict – ed.], and that all cargo headed for Gaza would be checked first in the Ashdod port… This issue is a matter of total consensus in Israel, and the reason is the sense of injustice that we all feel, the cynicism and hypocrisy that typify the attack on the State of Israel, and the sense we all have that the IDF’s operation yesterday was logical and ethical. We left Gaza five years ago, yet for years we have been attacked from Gaza, and our soldier Gilad Shalit is still being held in a dark dungeon in Gaza. We therefore feel that we have the right to act in the way we did.”
HaNegbi added that many questions remain open in terms of the operation, the intelligence that preceded it, and the PR efforts after it, “and we will insist on investigating these matters and receiving answers.”
Several terror activists wounded on the Marmaris ship early Tuesday morning are hospitalized in several hospitals throughout Israel. Each of them is guarded by a military policeman, ensuring that he not try to escape or give media interviews.
Dozens of others who were arrested after being taken off the ships are being questioned. Among them is Sheikh Ra'ad Salah, head of the Northern Branch of the extremist Islamic Movement in Israel. He was originally thought to have been injured on the boat, leading to Israeli-Arab rioting and much media speculation, but he is now known to be safe and sound.
Arab MK Hanin Zouabi (Balad), a rookie female MK from Nazareth, was on board the ship as well, but was released straight home because of her parliamentary immunity - infuriating some Knesset Members. MK Aryeh Bibi (Kadima) said, “Our democracy has lost its direction. We’ve reached the point where Arab citizens and MKs do whatever they wish. Zouabi’s parliamentary immunity must be removed and she should be arrested. I’d like to see her try similar protests in Arab countries… let her join the Hamas regime in Gaza.”
MK Danny Danon (Likud) said, “Zouabi and her Hamas friends boarded this flotilla as shahids [martyrs] who said that they knew that they might die in the course of harming IDF soldiers. Instead of making peace, Zouabi started war on board the ship. Terror activists like her must not be permitted to return to the Knesset.” Zouabi was recorded shouting for help in English and Hebrew when the IDF boarded the ship on which she sailed.
2. Netanyahu on Way to Visit Flotilla-Wounded Soldiers
by Hillel Fendel
Five IDF soldiers wounded during the operation to divert the Gaza-bound flotilla are still hospitalized. Four of them are listed in moderate condition.
Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, the IDF Chief of Staff, visited some of them Tuesday morning in the Rambam Hospital in Haifa. He heard first-hand their accounts of what happened on the S.S. Marmaris, onto which they rappelled down only to find themselves facing a lynch mob. Ashkenazi praised what he called their “extraordinary” actions.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, returning from North America after having cut short his trip without meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, plans to make a stop at Tel HaShomer Hospital to visit some of the wounded. He is scheduled to arrive around 2:30 PM. Netanyahu said he wished to visit the soldiers before continuing on to Jerusalem.
Nine terror activists were killed, and another two are in very serious or critical condition. Thirteen are in serious condition, and another 25 are in light or moderate condition.
3. Opposition Leader Livni: United We Stand for Hamas Embargo
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The flotilla clash has united Opposition leader Tzipi Livni, head of the Kadima party, with the coalition government. “There is no opposition in Israel” to the embargo on Hamas, she said.
Knesset member Livni is a former Foreign Minister and was acting Prime Minister nearly two years ago after Ehud Olmert was forced to step down due to corruption scandals. Despite her constant criticism of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu since he formed the current government, Livni stood four-square behind it following the flotilla clash.
“There is a process of trying to making it illegitimate for Israel to defend itself,” she said on CNN. "The embargo on Gaza is a necessity in order to stop Hamas and its supporters. Hamas is a fanatical religious terrorist organization that is not prepared to accept the existence of Israel. It uses terror against civilians and is not ready to accept any agreement between Israel and Arabs.”
The Opposition leader also spoke on the BBC, ABC and to media outlets from Australia and France, among others.
She pointed out that the flotilla organizers “from the outset” were not interested in providing humanitarian aid to Gaza residents. “If that is what they wanted, they could have accepted our suggestion to transfer the aid” overland from the port in Ashdod, Livni stated. “They wanted to break the embargo. It is a necessity in order to stop Hamas and its supporters.”
Concerning the violence, Livni said, “Our soldiers were brutally attacked, and then, in self-defense, they retaliated. Israel has the right to defend itself.”
Despite her solidarity with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Livni took a verbal shot at the government, asking rhetorically where the Cabinet were ministers while she was “running around like a maniac” to defend Israel in interviews for foreign media.
4. Sailor’s First-Hand Report: We Came to Speak; They Came to Fight
by Israel National News-IDF
One of the Naval Special Forces commandos who sustained a broken arm while under attack by the S.S. Mavi Marmaris’ passengers, reports, “Each soldier who descended was grabbed by three or four men and they simply exploded, beating him up. They lynched us.
“They had metal clubs, knives, slingshots, glass bottles…At one point there was also live fire.
“I was among the last to descend, and I saw that the group was dispersed, everyone in his own corner surrounded by three or four men. I saw a soldier on the floor with two men beating him. I peeled them off of him and they came at me and began beating me with the clubs.
“That’s how I broke my arm. At that moment I had no weapon in my hands, like everyone else who descended on the cables empty-handed. My paintball gun was behind me.
“They came and attacked me, I brought them down to the floor, I took a few steps back, I took out my paintball gun, they came at me, and I shot at their legs. One of the clubs destroyed my paint gun and I moved on to my pistol which was the only thing to hold against them. At this point my arm no longer functioned.
“From the opening of the corridor, they were shooting at us the entire time with live fire”
The naval soldier also described how his unit was shot at from the entrance to the ship’s corridor: “I saw two from my group lying flat on the ground. From the opening of the corridor they were shooting at them the entire time with live fire, bullets. We identified a gun barrel, and one of us shot at the guy holding it. Afterwards we entered and he wasn’t there.
"[They were] about 30 men; they simply came for war. We came to straighten things out, to speak to those who went downstairs, but each of us who descended was simply attacked.
“There were some from my group that were thrown to the lower floor, and the passengers took their equipment. They jumped to the water as a last resort. We were told that if they didn’t listen, we should shoot at their legs with the paintball gun. 'The pistol is only for if you really feel your life is in danger, which shouldn’t happen. It would be extremely abnormal.' But in the end, that is what happened.
“We came with the intention of stopping the ship and taking it to Ashdod, and we did not come with the weapons we usually have; we came for something entirely different.”
Commentators in Israel have criticized the fact that many of the soldiers were equipped with pistols and paintball guns instead of being prepared for a worst case scenario where they would need rifles.
5. IDF Evidence, US Stem Turkish-Led Diplomatic War Against Israel
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
IDF video documentation and United States diplomats have stemmed the anti-Israel tide in the United Nations – for the time being – a day after the flotilla clash on the high seas. The U.N. Security Council met in closed session until late Monday night after U.S. diplomats watered down a Turkish attempt to censure Israel.
Most of the 15 countries sitting on the Council expressed harsh criticism of Israel, but no joint statement was issued. Turkey is trying to use the universal anti-Israel mood to force an end to Israel's partial blockade on Gaza, imposed since Hamas gained control of the area un a military coup three years ago.
"It is clearer than ever that Israel's restrictions on access to Gaza must be lifted,” said British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant.
Foreign media and diplomats have begun to note the IDF videos of a brutal attack on Israeli Navy commandos as they descended on one of the ships after the crew and passengers refused requests to change course and sail to Ashdod instead of Hamas. Under the Oslo Accords and agreements with the Palestinian Authority, Israel maintains sovereignty over the international waters off the Gaza coast.
"Direct (aid) delivery by sea is neither appropriate nor responsible under the circumstances," said U.S. Deputy Permanent Representative to the U.N. Alejandro Wolff. While European and Arab countries castigated Israel for the killing of nine Muslim extremists who attacked Navy commandos, Wolff stated, “We are working to ascertain the facts [and] we expect a credible and transparent investigation.”
Hamas has smuggled hundreds of tons of explosives, arms and ammunition, as well as terrorists, by land and sea, and Israel is determined to prevent further smuggling actions. Allowing boats to reach Gaza without inspection would give Hamas free passage to bring in advanced weapons, including long-range missiles.
Israel’s U.N. envoy Daniel Cameron stated Jerusalem’s position, backed up by IDF videos from a helicopter hovering over the flotilla, that “this flotilla was anything but a humanitarian mission. What kind of humanitarian activists demand to bypass the United Nations, the Red Cross, and other internationally recognized agencies? What kind of peace activists use knives, clubs and other weapons to attack soldiers who board a ship in accordance with international law?" he said.
Arab diplomats harped on Israel’s trying to inspect the ships in international waters, but legal experts have stated that Israel, like any other country, has the right to sail in international waters and stop foreign ships suspected of trying to reach its shores with suspicious cargo or people.
Yahya Mahmassani, representing the Arab bloc at the United Nations, said they want a total censure of Israel because the incident happened in international waters and because they want the partial blockade lifted. International media, which until recently have adopted the Arab claim that a "humanitarian crisis” exists in Gaza, have virtually ignored daily shipments of hundreds of tons of food, merchandise and supplies from Israel to Gaza.
Lebanon, currently the rotating president of the U.N. Security Council, and Turkey both led the condemnation of Israel at the Council session with such terms as “piracy,” “crime” and “a black day in the history of humanity.”
“I’m not sure any international lawyer would be able to defend such words” at this stage, said one senior Council diplomat, quoted by Benny Avni, writing in The New York Sun Tuesday morning.
The diplomat noted that after more than two months since an unprovoked torpedo attack on a South Korean ship, China and other Council members have prevented even a discussion of the incident, even though a probe has clearly established that North Korea attacked the boat, and even though a multinational investigation has credibly established North Korea’s role as aggressor.
Monday’s clash between Muslim militants and the Israeli Navy occurred on the Maרmara, one of the six ships in the flotilla. Most of the passengers on the other five vessels consisted largely of an assortment of international peace activists. The sixth ship included Muslim extremists, including northern Israel Islamic Movement leader Ra'ad Salah, who initially but incorrectly was reported as having suffered critical wounds in the clash.
After the Israeli commandos took control of the Maרmara and led it to the port of Ashdod, where the humanitarian aid was unloaded and shipped to Gaza, the IDF collected and photographed weapons that had been brought on board.
The extremists had stockpiled and used two dozen knives, metal pipes and clubs to beat the Navy commandos as they descended on the Mamara by rope from helicopters.
6. IDF Photos of Knives Contradict Turkish Claims of ’No Weapons’
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
IDF photos of two dozen knives, including a machete, plus clubs, chains and metal rods used against Israeli Navy commandoes in the flotilla clash Monday contradict Turkish claims that the passengers did not carry weapons on board.
“Customs officials at the Port of Antalya have denied Israeli claims that weapons were detected on a ship taking humanitarian aid to Gaza that took off from Antalya on Sunday,” the Turkish news site Today’s Zaman reported.
It quoted a customs official as stating, “Forty-two passengers boarded in Istanbul and 504 passengers got on the ship here. They were screened. We spotted no weapons and there is no such record in our logs. We did not notice anything suspicious about the Mavi Marmara. Had our officers had any suspicions, they would have reported it.”
The IDF confiscated and photographed the weapons, which were used to brutally attack Navy commandoes as they descended to one of the ships via ropes from hovering helicopters, intending to take over the ships peacefully. Greta Berlin, spokeswoman for the Free Gaza movement, claimed to Israel National News that the IDF edited the video showing the commandoes landing on board and added the violence.
Concerning the weapons, she told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, "I will venture to say that Israel is lying about this because the weapons that I saw coming on board this morning belonged to Israel. If there were weapons, they planted those weapons."
7. UN Demands ‘Partial Investigation’ of Flotilla Clash
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The United Nations Security Council, following a marathon closed session, has passed a watered-down condemnation of Israel and called for a probe of the flotilla clash. The United States was instrumental in toning down the Security Council resolution.
A Turkish-led anti-Israel coalition asked for a stronger resolution that called for an independent international investigation, similar to that of the Goldstone Commission. The Goldstone Report placed most of the blame on Israel for casualties in last year’s Operation Cast Lead war against Hamas terrorists.
After more than 10 hours of deliberation, the Council also asked that Israel release the six ships in the flotilla and all of the passengers. Most of the foreign activists have been processed for deportation to their home countries.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, "It is vital that there is a full investigation to determine exactly how this bloodshed took place. I believe Israel must urgently provide a full explanation.”
The flotilla clash and worldwide condemnation of Israel have put the government on the diplomatic defensive. The same situation a year ago, after the Operation Cast Lead campaign against Hamas terrorists, resulted in the U.N.-sanctioned Goldstone Report.
Similar to the Goldstone Report’s scant mention of the thousands of missiles and mortars that Hamas terrorists fired on Israel since 2000, foreign media and diplomats largely ignored the documented violence initiated by flotilla extremists armed with knives, daggers, metal clubs, as well as pistols that they snatched from the soldiers.
Documented evidence showed the armed Muslim extremists had planned the violent attack on Israeli naval soldiers.
The European Union as a body, and France, Sweden, Italy, Greece, Britain, and Germany individually, immediately condemned Israel for the killing nine Muslim extremists who brutally attacked Navy commandos as they descended on ropes from a hovering helicopter and on to one of the six ships.
Two German legislators were on board the ships, and their government, while saying that Israel has a right to “self-defense,” deplored the naval action as “disproportionate.”
Lebanon, which holds the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council, convened it in a closed session on Monday on the heels of a diplomatic storm following the flotilla clash.
Assistant U.N. Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco charged that the clash would not have taken place "if repeated calls on Israel to end the counterproductive and unacceptable blockade of Gaza had been heeded.”
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the raid "murder conducted by a state," and PA envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, declared, “We call collectively as Arabs, with Turkey, for an independent international investigation to know who gave orders from the Israeli side to open fire.”
Arab League chief Amr Mussa warned that the flotilla left the American-mediated proximity talks “hanging in the air.”
