Israel’s half-hearted apology fails to meet expectations

Hinting at Turkey’s dissatisfaction towards Israel’s failure to issue a formal apology and admit culpability for their actions, diplomatic sources told Today’s Zaman that Israel has already said what needs to be said. Turkey is now awaiting the results of a UN report that will reveal additional information concerning the raid on the flotilla, which Turkey thinks will confirm its belief that the reason for Israel’s intervention on the ship was in sharp contrast to Israeli claims that it was acting in self-defense, and therefore constitutes homicide. The UN report is expected to be released in late August instead of the initial release date, previously set as February. UN officials have refrained from giving a reason for the multiple delays. “We are willing to consider an apology over problems that arose during the operation on the Marmara, if there were any,” Barak was quoted as saying in Washington.

During the visit, he met the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for talks that included the importance of repairing the damage caused by the raid that dragged Israeli-Turkey relations into a state of crisis, Reuters reported. Barak also noted that “We are [Israel] not apologizing for using force and not apologizing for the legality of the blockade,” which came as a blow reflecting that Israel had not changed its stance on the broader issue of the Gaza blockade.

“I don’t like it, but it’s the choice that needs to be,” Barak said in his statement in a gingerly move to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, as Barak does not have full support from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, which has many hard critics that say it should be up to Turkey to mend the relations.

Meanwhile, the media reported that Clinton had shown encouragement for Israel’s reconciliation with Turkey in her talks with Barak, who earlier discussed the same issue with Vice President Joe Biden and National Security Advisor Tom Donilon at the White House, according to reports by the Jerusalem Post citing a ministry statement on Thursday.

Barak is known to be in support of breaking the ice between the two countries and achieving the much sought after reconciliation with Turkey, but he faces challenges caused by opponents within the Israeli government, most prominent of whom is the Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who is against making the apology that could provide what Turkey and Israel need to improve their relations. Lieberman has in the past defended his stance against the apology by saying that it would amount to humiliation and pave the way for lawsuits against the soldiers involved in the raid, whilst his latest remarks on Sunday affirmed that Lieberman would not quit his post in government if it decides to finally cave in to Turkey’s demands for an apology.

Already strained relations between the two countries erupted last year when Israeli naval forces raided the Mavi Marmara, a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza despite the Israeli naval blockade on the region. The raid resulted in the killings of nine peace activists by Israeli commandos and is the basis of Turkey’s demand for an apology and compensation for the loss of life, which Israel defends by saying the commandoes had acted in self-defense. Turkey has condemned many times the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip, which Turkey says endangers civilian lives by defying human rights and repressing the economy of Gazan economy.

The closest Israel ever came to apologizing for the raid was when the Netanyahu government expressed regret over the bloodshed and established a humanitarian fund for the injured activists on the ship. However, Turkey, in agreement with the United Nations, still presses the country to urgently end the Gaza blockade, which Israel defends, claiming that the blockade is protecting its people from arms that could reach the ruling Hamas, which is hostile to Israel.