BACKLASH:A PROPOSAL by Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu to ease the naval blockade on Gaza follows fierce international criticism after nine passengers were killed on Monday when Israeli commandos stormed a Gaza-bound flotilla. Israel hopes the initiative will deflect some of the harsh international backlash directed at it.
Yesterday, South Africa recalled its ambassador to Israel in response to the naval raid.
Deputy South African international relations minister Ebrahim Ebrahim said the move was designed to show Pretoria’s strongest condemnation of the action. “This recent Israel aggression of attacking the aid flotilla severely impacts on finding a lasting solution to the problems of the region,” he said.
Israel expressed its regret and disappointment at the South African move. “Those who criticise Israel would be better advised to turn their criticism against the terror-supporting rioters from the flotilla, who have nothing to do with humaneness,” spokesman Yigal Palmor said.
The proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians continued yesterday despite the tension caused by Monday’s raid. “This incident underscores the need to make progress in negotiations,” said US mediator George Mitchell, who held talks with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem.
Mr Abbas, who resisted Hamas pressure to pull out of the talks, condemned the raid. “Our nation was exposed to state terrorism when Israel attacked the peace flotilla,” he said.
Israel has still not decided whether or not to set up a commission of inquiry into the naval raid.
Some ministers voiced opposition to any inquiry. Others proposed a credible Israeli investigation in an effort to head off a UN-led international investigation which is likely to be highly critical of Israeli actions. Other ministers advocated an Israeli investigation with foreign participation, possibly as observers. German chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday called for members of the quartet – the US, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations – to be included in the investigation.
Paradoxically, Israeli leaders may well prefer an inquiry with international participation over a domestic state commission of inquiry which is likely to ask uncomfortable questions about intelligence ahead of the raid and the domestic decision-making process that led to it.
An inquiry set up by former prime minister Ehud Olmert into the second Lebanon war in 2006 was scathing in its criticism of the country’s political and military echelon, including Mr Olmert himself.
An inquiry with international observers would be more likely to focus on the raid itself, and Israeli officials were confident they could argue that the action was legal and that the commandos fired in self-defence.