Attorney General says apologize to Turkey or IDF soldiers will be sued
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein is reported to have told Prime Minister Netanyahu that if Israel does not apologize to Turkey for the Mavi Marmara incident, IDF troops who participated in the incident are likely to face lawsuits. The Justice Department has refused to confirm the report. The sources added that Weinstein believes that if Turkey promises not to file lawsuits against IDF soldiers and officers that took part in the Marmara interception, Israel should consider apologizing for operational mistakes and misuse of force. The suggested apology would be a general one, and would not apply to stopping the flotilla or the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.I have no doubt that this was Weinstein's recommendation, but I don't think it's the correct recommendation.
Although the UN investigation is expected to find the naval blockade legal, it is likely to determine that the Israeli commando soldiers used excessive force while intercepting the ship. The investigation mentions autopsy reports which claim that the activists killed were shot several times.
The UN report is expected to be published on July 27 in New York. The report's release has been delayed several times due to pressure from the United States, who is worried that the ongoing crisis between Israel and Turkey will harm its interests in the Middle East.
First, I wouldn't trust any promise received from the Turks.
Second, even if they did promise, they can always let the families of the slain terrorists sue our soldiers and then claim they could not stop them.
Third, the Turks have made quite clear that they want more than the kind of limited apology Weinstein is proposing. They want a complete apology that puts all the blame on Israel, they want compensation - which Israel might be willing to pay - and they want the Gaza blockade which the UN is about to officially find legal removed. There is no way the government can agree to the third demand, and they probably cannot agree to the first one either. And the Turks - like all our other Muslim interlocutors - don't know the meaning of compromise.
Fourth, if the US is so interested in resolving this, why aren't they pushing the Turks? (Rhetorical question - I don't expect an answer to that).
All of that is aside from the fact that apologizing for acting in self-defense (remember that some moron decided that the IDF should be using paintball guns) is just plain wrong!
Moreover, I still have been unable to ascertain whether the Palmer commission saw the photo above which shows that the terrorists were armed (yes, I asked the IDF - I have not gotten a response). Recall this:
Haaretz adds:Now we know what we didn't know last October - that we can confirm that the Marmara passengers were armed. For Israel to apologize would be outrageous.Ashkenazi told the six-member Turkel Commission on Sunday that navy commandos who boarded the Mavi Marmara were equipped with riot-dispersal gear, but quickly switched to live fire to confront armed passengers because "if they had not done this, there would have been more casualties."And this is from Arutz Sheva.
Ankara, which wants compensation and an apology from Israel, has dismissed the Turkel panel as too lacking in scope.
The probe commission has solicited testimony from Mavi Marmara passengers - many of whom insist the commandos' onslaught was unprovoked - and signaled it may probe Israel's navy deeper.
Ashkenazi said 308 live rounds were fired by the troops. A top aide to the general told Reuters 70 of these were aimed to cause injury, while the rest were warning shots.
That appeared consistent with Turkish forensic findings that the nine dead activists were shot a total of 30 times, and there were gunshot wounds among another 24 passengers who were hurt.
"Those who are asking questions [about tactics] should propose an alternative solution," Ashkenazi said.
Ashkenazi said passengers grabbed three Glock handguns [pictured. CiJ] and an Uzi machine pistol from commandos whom they overpowered. The troops had been dropped from helicopters onto the crowded ship as it ploughed through Mediterranean high seas at night.
"We have testimony of one activist running at them [commandos] and firing with a mini-Uzi, and them shooting him," he said. "They hit those who were clearly involved in the attack on them, and not those who were not."
Mavi Marmara activists have said any guns taken from the troops were disposed of, rather than used.
Ashkenazi said commandos had fired some 350 beanbag rounds and non-lethal paintballs, all according to "protocol." The navy opted against rubber bullets - a mainstay of Israel's tactics against Palestinian demonstrations on land - because of a lethal risk within the Mavi Marmara's confines, Ahkenazi added.Clear proof that the passengers aboard the Marmara were armed and dangerous can be seen in the fact that the second IDF commando to board the ship was shot, he told members of the commission. The first soldier on board had not been carrying a gun, meaning the bullet could only have come from a gun carried by a passenger.
Ashkenazi defended the soldiers who boarded the Marmara, and said they had used minimal violence. Soldiers even took risks in order to lessen casualties among the passengers, he said. As an example, he said, one soldier who was being strangled took the time to locate a shock grenade to get free.
And by the way, nine dead people shot 30 times total is much less than what Thursday's Haaretz article made it sound like.
Labels: Mavi Marmara, Turkish obsession with Israel
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:34 PM
6 Comments:
Utterly disgusting and outrageous!! Sack the AG for treason and whatever else!! Kapo!!
Self-defeating if not not suicidal desperation from Israel's leadership. Commentary magazine to Israeli "realists"--Turkey (and China) are just "not that into you" as the kids say--they're into "show me the money" and Israel can't compete with its MEast antagonists:
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/07/21/it%E2%80%99s-time-for-israel-to-get-real-about-realism/#more-761200
If its true, Attorney General Weinstein deserves to be dismissed and shown the door.
If Israel is not going to defend its rights no one else will stand up for the Jews.
Let's hope this so-called apology goes nowhere.
That commentary magazine article is nonsense IMHO. Turkey does so act on principles - Islamic ones. And the "lack of principles" that China is purported to have just sounds like good old fashion capitalistic self interest to me. They have a lot of people to feed over there.
Please don't lump the Chinese in with the despicable Turks.
ais cotten19:
But, you agree with Commentary on China vis a vis Israel--you disagree with the label: call it "lack of principle" or the high pocket-book morality of chasing the best and biggest market deals to feed the folks--Israel self-inflicted concessions won't change their perceived self-interest.
And for Turkey, Commentary starts off by saying "Even if we put aside the Turkish prime minister’s anti-Semitism..."--so here too, whether Turkey is motivated by "$30 billion trade with Iran" or Islamic ideology the result is the same: Israeli apologies are not "realism".
I like the Chinese too and hope Israel can strike deals that make everybody rich and happy.
The very idea of Israel apologizing to Turkey for this is despicable and horrible! If the Israeli government should be apologizing to _anyone_ it's to the families of the soldiers who were wounded when forced to board with such suicidal rules of engagement. What about the leader who was nearly disemboweled with a knife by the terrorists and had to jump overboard and swim to escape? What about the soldier who was photographed with the terrorists tormenting him and laughing at him, bloodied--a photo that won a contest in Turkey?
Is Israel's leadership insane, that they would even consider apologizing to Turkey rather than to the families of these brave soldiers? What does this mean? That under similar circumstances they would send soldiers with even _more_ suicidal rules of engagement? ("Okay, guys, go aboard this ship and just let them torture you to death, already. Then we won't have to apologize.")
I'm sickened by the very thought of an apology to Turkey.
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