Barak testifies before the Turkel Committee
Photo: AP
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Photo: AFP
Barak seeks foreign help in stopping Gaza flotilla
Defense minister shows he's learned lesson from Turkel questioning, asks US, French officials to prevent aid vessel's departure from Lebanon
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Saturday he had spoken via telephone with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, US National Security Advisor Jim Jones and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and requested that they prevent the departure of the Gaza aid flotilla from Lebanon.
This is Barak's second press release in the last two days, and comes just a few weeks after he testified before the Turkel Committee, when he appeared to pass off responsibility for the flotilla fiasco onto the IDF. This time, it seems the defense minister is demonstrating that he has learned the lesson and is making every effort to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
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The press release noted "the defense minister clarified that Israel enables humanitarian aid to reach the Gaza Strip after being checked in Ashdod Port, thus the flotilla's attempt to reach Gaza is an unnecessary provocation."
Barak has recently reiterated to the government and to international figures that every diplomatic effort must be made to stop the vessels. On Friday, he emphasized that the women's flotilla has "no connection to humanitarian issues, and is a hostile provocation, with all that this signifies."
Whether this is true or not, the flotilla organizers have postponed the departure, planned for Sunday. One of the organizers, Samir al-Haj, said Saturday that after Cyprus refused to allow the vessel to pass through its territorial waters, they were obliged to seek an alternative port before they could depart.
"We are seeking another place," she said. "There are difficulties and hurdles, but we won't give up so easily."
The flotilla needs a by-station because Lebanon will not allow the vessels to depart from its shores directly to Gaza. It was reported earlier Saturday that the organizers had approached the Greek government.
Some 50 to 75 women are to be aboard the Mariam. They have announced that the vessel will carry medicine against cancer, books and toys.
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