Livni: Flotilla made use of political vacuum

Opposition chair tells Turkel committee lack of peace process gave Turkey legitimacy for flotilla 'with the provocative aim of creating legitimacy for Hamas'

Dor Glick|Published: 10.25.10 , 10:26

Opposition chairwoman Tzipi Livni testified Monday before the Turkel Committee, which is investigating the IDF raid on an aid flotilla to Gaza in May. The former foreign minister was asked to explain why Gaza was placed under naval blockade.

"I wanted to come and bolster the legitimacy of Israel's actions during the flotilla," Livni said during her testimony.

'Israel acted legitimately' (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

The Opposition chair said the flotilla had succeeded in garnering world support because of the lack of peace talks with the Palestinians at the time.

"Turkey's policies are changing, and Israel is only a small part of this," she said. "At a certain stage, Turkey took advantage of the political vacuum, with the provocative aim of creating legitimacy for Hamas."

Livni added, "Turkey was not interested in getting aid to Gaza – that option was offered – but rather exacting a political act opposing international decisions."

On the naval blockade, she said, "Gaza never had legitimate access to the sea based on Israeli-Palestinian agreements from the years 1994-1995. A port is not legitimate according to globally-recognized agreements."

Livni added that she believed the international community had made a mistake by allowing Hamas to run in the Palestinian elections.

In August, Livni sent a letter to the Turkel Committee asking to testify on the grounds that her testimony is necessary as a member of the government which decided to impose a blockade on the Gaza Strip.

"The closure on Gaza is part of the policy of the former government, in which I served as acting prime minister and foreign minister. The prime minister's testimony does not accurately reflect the political and security aspects at the basis of our decision on the imposing of the blockade and the need for it," she wrote.