Netanyahu accuses Turkey of ignoring flotilla warnings

In remarks likely to further infuriate Ankara, the prime minister also made a connection between a fuel swap deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil with Iran and events leading to the lethal raid. Netanyahu was the first witness to testify to the state-appointed inquiry into the lethal raid at sea on May 31, in which Israeli commandos killed eight Turkish and one Turkish-American pro-Palestinian activists, after boarding their vessel from a helicopter.

The clash took place before dawn in international waters off Israel. The enclave is ruled by the Hamas movement and sealed off by a tight Israeli naval blockade.

“Beginning on May 14, my office held contacts with the highest levels of the Turkish government. These contacts, and later on contacts between [the Israeli] defense minister and Turkish foreign minister as well ... were intended to prevent a confrontation with the Marmara flotilla, and they continued until the eve of the flotilla’s arrival on Gaza’s shores. I similarly appealed to a senior figure in Egypt’s government on May 27 so it would intercede with the Turkish government,” Netanyahu said.

“But as the flotilla’s arrival neared, it became clear that the diplomatic efforts would not stop it. Despite our continuous diplomatic efforts, ultimately the Turkish government did not prevent the attempt by the Marmara to break the naval blockade. All our proposals to route the ships’ cargo for a security vetting in Ashdod, and later for transfer through the land crossings to Gaza, were to no avail. Nor did we hear any public message from the Turkish government aimed at calming the excitability of the activists aboard the ship.”

It was Netanyahu’s most explicit public account of behind-the-scenes diplomacy that in the end failed to avert the clash.

“It appears that the Turkish government did not see in the prospect of a clash between Turkish activists and Israel something that clashed with its interests, and certainly not something that would warrant applying effective pressure on the İHH [the Humanitarian Aid Foundation which owns the three Turkish ships that were part of the convoy] activists..”

Netanyahu said Israel could not have allowed the ships to breach its cordon, which it insists is necessary to keep weapons, including long-range rockets, out of the hands of Hamas, the Palestinian movement backed by Iran which runs Gaza.

“The state of Israel and the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] operated according to international law,” he said. “As prime minister I can’t ignore Hamas as a threat to Israel’s existence.”

“I should point out that on the 17th of that month the Turkish prime minister met the president of Iran, [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad, and the president of Brazil for a joint declaration on the matter of the Iranian nuclear deal, which was contrary to the position of the United States and the other permanent members of the Security Council. Thus Turkey bolstered its solidarity and cooperation with Iran in the days before the flotilla,” Netanyahu remarked.

Nine activists were shot dead when Israeli commandos stormed the lead ship, Mavi Marmara. Israel says its commandos used live fire during the raid only after being attacked with clubs, knives and guns by activists who it says were clearly prepared for violence. Israel made video recordings of fighting on deck.

The raid sparked a world outcry and almost ruptured Israel’s relations with once-close Muslim ally Turkey. It also pushed Israel to ease restrictions of its Gaza blockade, which is aimed at preventing the territory’s rulers Hamas from increasing their arsenal but also aggravates the privations of 1.5 million mostly aid-dependant Palestinians.

“I asked that, as much as possible, the friction [of the interception] be reduced and that supreme effort be made to avoid casualties. I know that this was also the instruction of the defense minister and [the IDF] chief of staff,” Netanyahu suggested.

Existential threat

The Jerusalem-based inquiry is led by retired Supreme Court judge Jacob Turkel and includes two foreign observers. It is investigating the circumstances surrounding Israel’s handling of the encounter with the six-vessel aid flotilla that was trying to bring aid to Gaza, and cast a spotlight on its blockade in a direct challenge.

Netanyahu’s spokesman Nir Hefetz told reporters that this inquiry was not an “anti-Israel body,” unlike the UN Human Rights Commission under judge Richard Goldstone into Israel’s devastating Gaza Strip offensive in January 2009.

Israel has refused to cooperate with the Goldstone probe. Hefetz said the Turkel commission “attests to the way in which the state of Israel, at the highest of international standards, is prepared to show its cards and say ‘We have nothing to hide’.”

The United Nations is conducting two inquiries of its own into Israel’s high-seas interception.

A panel formed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and headed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer is due to meet for the first time today. It will include one Israeli and one Turkish member.

A second probe, by the UN Human Rights Council, will be run independently and without Israeli cooperation.