ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on Friday on his claims concerning the Gaza flotilla raid alleging that the Israeli occupation soldiers were forced to defend themselves against the pro-Palestinian activists.
Netanyahu stressed that Israel won’t apologise to Turkey over the Gaza aid flotilla clashes and the possibility of giving compensation to those injured in the incident is not up for discussion.
‘Israel cannot apologise for our soldiers being forced to defend themselves against the mob that almost slaughtered them,’ Netanyahu said during an interview with Israel’s Channel 1.
‘We are sorry over the loss of life,’ Netanyahu said. ‘This is clear.’
The Israeli prime minister also denied reports that Israel is considering compensating those injured in the clashes. ‘That is not up for discussion,’ Netanyahu said.
The clandestine talks between Israeli Industry, Trade and Labour Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu which took place in Brussels earlier this week caused a small spat between Netanyahu and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
Netanyahu acknowledged that it was a mistake not to update the foreign minister on what was happening. ‘I explained the circumstances to Lieberman, the mistake was fixed and we are moving forward. The coalition is not in danger,’ Netanyahu said.
Speaking about the actual meet, Netanyahu said, ‘It’s good that there was contact on a senior level, even if there are no agreements. It’s good for Israeli interests and even for Turkish interests to try and stop the deterioration in relations.’
Netanyahu said that different people had approached him in recent weeks with proposals of finding ways to contact Turkey in order to stop the worsening of relations.
‘One of them was Ben-Eliezer, who proposed an unofficial meet at the airport in Zurich. I told him, “go ahead, meet.”’
An international inquiry into the Israeli raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla may hurt the Turks – This is the message that US President Barack Obama has conveyed to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish sources told the international media.
Saturday’s reports said Obama told Erdogan that ‘such an inquiry commission may lead to accusations against several passengers on the Marmara ship, or members of the IHH organisation and Turkey must know that its request could turn into a double-edged sword.’
Turkish sources told the paper that the meeting between Obama and Erdogan on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Canada paved the way for the secret meeting between Israel’s Industry, Trade and Labour Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Brussels.
According to the Turkish authorities, Obama conveyed promises and calming messages to Turkey, in an attempt to convince Israel’s prime minister, Netanyahu, in their upcoming meeting next Tuesday, to accept the Turkish demands.’
Ben-Eliezer noted that Israel could apologise to the families of some of the activists killed in the flotilla raid, but not to all of them, as some of them were affiliated with Hamas.
Ben-Eliezer asked that Turkey give the internal Israeli probe into the raid a chance, or include its report in the international commission’s report, which Israel will not officially take part in or work with directly.
Earlier this month, the family of Rachel Corrie wrote to the US United Nations envoy Susan Rice that Israel cannot be trusted to conduct a reliable investigation of its raid of the Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
Corrie, a US citizen, was 24 when she was struck and killed in 2003 by a bulldozer as she and other human activists tried to stop Israel razing homes in Rafah by using their bodies as human shields.
The driver claimed he didn’t see her, and the Israeli occupation army has ruled her death an accident – a version her parents reject.
In the letter, obtained by Israeli daily Haaretz, Cindy and Craig Corrie referred to the May 31 raid of the Gaza flotilla which resulted in the deaths of nine activists, saying they wished to express their ‘continuing sorrow and outrage over the recent killings and injuries aboard the Mavi Marmara and other vessels that sailed with the Freedom Flotilla to break the siege of Gaza.’
‘We write also to inform you,’ the Corrie family added, ‘of the longstanding, US government position that Israel has failed to conduct a thorough, credible and transparent investigation into our daughter’s killing and that after repeated attempts at the highest levels, US officials have been unable to secure such an investigation.’
Rachel Corrie’s parents then said they believed it was ‘important that Israel’s raid on the flotilla be investigated independently’, adding that ‘while the Israeli Government has a responsibility to conduct its own internal investigation, our experience leads us to believe that Israel cannot be counted upon to reliably investigate itself.’
The letter to UN representative Rice concluded with Cindy and Craig Corrie urging the US to support a ‘truly independent investigation into the raid on the Mavi Marmara, one that is complete, impartial, and trustworthy.’
l ‘Should another war break out – like the one with Hezbollah almost exactly four years ago – the Golani Brigade will not be unprepared.’
According to media reports, the Israeli army is carrying out drills that cope with the Second Lebanon War and includes an intensive penetration of the Israeli forces into the same regions. The reports noted that the drills aim at achieving better results in a potential next round of fighting.
The reports noted that the latest training tactics make a scenario of a potential war with Hezbollah in which the enemy controls the nature reserves created by Hezbollah in South Lebanon.
Amos Harel, the Haaretz military expert, revealed in a report he published that in the natural terrain around the Elyakim training base, the Israeli army has constructed outposts resembling as closely as possible Hezbollah’s extensive system of bunkers and emplacements in nature reserves in southern Lebanon, which it failed to cope with during the Second Lebanon War.
‘Four years on from the war, the Israeli army is training intensively in combat tactics suited to Lebanon, with the aim of achieving better results in a potential next round of fighting,’ he said.
The report noted that success in the next round will require both combing through and taking control of the terrain – to whatever extent that time allows – and striking at essential targets of Hezbollah and the Lebanon government.
He recalled that the Elyakim training site is saturated with false explosive devices and camouflaged emplacements, in which the Golani reconnaissance troops are expected to uncover simulated rocket-launching sites.
The report quoted battalion commander Lt. Col. Oren Cohen as saying that although such a confrontation will cost Israel casualties, the mission will be accomplished. ‘We know a lot more about nature reserves today than we did five years ago. If the battalion had been sent into sites like this in 2006, we would have paid a high price,’ he said.
‘While it’s true that a local Hezbollah squad spends years preparing to defend itself against the Israeli forces at a particular location, in the end they only undergo a month and a half of training. Our soldiers are far more trained. Such a confrontation will cost us casualties, but the mission will be accomplished. I feel quite confident with the soldiers’ training.’
Harel also talked about the military abilities of Hezbollah and its coordination with Syria. ‘As part of the lessons of 2006, Hezbollah moved its centre of gravity from nature reserves in open areas to compounds in the heart of villages and forests. The organisation’s assumption is that by fighting from within populated areas, they will wear down Israel, which will be apprehensive about a mass killing of civilians,’ he claimed.
‘The Israeli assessment is that neither Hezbollah nor Syria wants to engage in armed conflict this summer. Nonetheless, the fear of escalation remains particularly if Hezbollah makes good on its plan to perpetrate a showcase terrorist attack abroad, as revenge for the assassination of its military commander Imad Mughniyeh two and a half years ago.’
