I am a pro-Israel Gentile reading these pages, and let me tell you what I think, and please respond. I read about this "flotilla" days before it set off, and I had bad feelings then, precisely because I knew (and you probably did too) that these pro-Hamas "activists" were looking for a confrontation, because in their twisted worldview, any death or injury resulting from Israeli action serves as useful propaganda. This "tactic" isn't new. Given that Israel has no choice but to enforce the blockade to slow the flow of rockets and weaponry to Hamas, you were in a no-win situation no matter what you did. But here's the thing: while I totally support the blockade, support the right of Israel to defend its sovereignty; surely, we can all agree the IDF screwed up big time (which unfortunately, isn't a new phenomenon recently)? Firstly, why couldn't the IDF have waited until the "flotilla" left international waters, and then sabotaged the propellers and rudders to stop the ships (say using a small explosive or an underwater attachment to a submarine)? Then, with the ships unable to proceed further, the IDF should have pre-empted that the "activists" wanted a bloody fight. Why didn't the IDF subdue them first using teargas or some other non-lethal means, clearing the deck before dropping the troops? I saw the videos of commandos landing from helicopters where they were immediately set upon, thus had no choice but to defend themselves with live ammunition. This was an unacceptable failure and whoever commanded it must be held to account internally. We all know the IDF has a glorious history of overcoming insurmountable odds to be victorious. And that's baffling to me - how can the same IDF which performed miracles like Entebbe, and defeating huge Arab armies in '67 and '73 screw up so badly against terrorists (Hamas/Hezbollah/etc) and their supporters? Surely, the recent performance of the IDF is an insult to those who served in an earlier generation?

Israel had every right to inspect the "love boat." But who ever approved this operation should have been fired ! Paint ball guns? Are you kidding me?

some major error, not the soldiers, from what I understood the weapon the guns were not in their hands but hanged on the back and not ready to fire, they basicaly came with bare hands to the ship, how ever I think this error someone in the aarmy should resign for endanger the soldiers like that, the soldiers did exelant job, but the dumb dumns should have been prepared to the worse senario which they didn't, but from mistakes hope they learn what not to do.

...in here is kinda irrelevant. everyone know where they were going - they said it themselves- if israel wanted to wait for them to reach gaza zone, there would have been daylight and it might have caused even more casualties

Mr. Biden you think the world will buy your logic, you forgot what is international standard? Who do you try to please? I can imagine your reaction if Iranian commando will do the same thing.

I think I can fairly say that most Israelis think that: 1. Israel had a right to stop and search these ships. 2. IDF was ill prepared, working under the wrong assumption that there wouldn't be such murderous violence from the "peace activists". There is fierce criticism in Israel of the lack of thought, imagination and good planing on the part of the people who planned this operation. However, no doubt in Israel, that the soldiers were defending their lives against a mob who tried to lynch them, and that's why they had to use their weapons, and that's why there were casualties. 3. Israeli public also waits for answers as to why it was done in international waters, although some legal experts say there is legal justification for this when a country suspects that a hostile ship is heading towards it (in this case a ship that might carry weapons). I read somewhere also that Israel wanted to stop the ships at night and not during day time so to try decrease the PR victory of the ships. Another possibility is that IDF thought it would be easier to take control of the ships at night when the activists are more tired and don't expect Israel to act until the next day. From what I understand the activists intended to enter Israel's territorial waters during daytime to have everything broadcast in broad daylight

in all due respect to you, you need to direct your question to our defence minister & the head of our navy.

There was a time when the enemies of Israel had no International voice. Before 1983 Israel could retaliate at will to defend it self, now it cannot move without media retaliation. Lift the blockade and bring dawn the fences and watch in horror at the bloodshed that will occur. The wall is ugly but it is better than continues murder as before. Even a strong military cannot stop suicide bombing. Hamas would not hesitate to send them.

and he'll tell you that maritime law does not allow this kind of thing in international waters especially that the ships declared that they were civilian ships on a relief mission. By the way, the passengers have every right to defend themselves against unwelcome guests.

Iv'e seen some criticism being made against the IDF and would like to say a few things as someone who served 3 years under command of the IDF here in Israel. As someone who one of his friends got injured during that fight on the ship, I can tell you first-hand that the IDF soldiers didn't expect such a terrible welcoming since everything went fine on all 5 other ships, the Marmara was the only one in which they had some serious trouble getting onto. If we would have used some disabling mechanics to prevent the ship from moving, we'd have to do the same on all other ships for no appearant reason, and I believe things would turn out for the worst anyway. Israel's got the tendency to become the little kid everyone pick on every time it defend itself from incoming attacks, why? I have absolutely no idea. No one criticized Hamas during or after operation 'Cast Lead' for hiding in Hospitals and Schools and use the sick, the poor and the young ones as human shields, why should Israel take all the blame the world can't put on Terrorists? You want an answer? Fear. That's the answer. Ever since 9/11, the entire world started giving up to almost any terrorist threat, whether if its taking Muhammad drawings off of Facebook, receiving threats about Muhammad being on a South Park episode, Muhammad newspaper sketches.. I mean, come on, Jesus, Jehova, Buddha, and a countless number of other religious figures are getting laughed at every day, do we threat anyone because of it? No wonder the Arab nation gets such an ugly reputation, terror organizations are taking over and no one can seem to get it, or is too afraid to do something about it. As a former soldier of the IDF and as someone who knows the story first-hand, I can tell you they had no other choice but to do what they did. No one would have even imagined that they would get attacked that hard once they came on the ship, especially not by a so-called 'Humanitarian Association'. I have absolutely no problem with any kind of nationality - I'm dating a Russian and have worked together with Arabs - they are great people regardless of where they come from, the problem is when it gets to them being Terror Activists. And again, if the IDF would have used any other means (Flashbangs included), the entire world would treat that as a crime, because essentially, those passengers haven't done anything wrong yet. But even seeing our soldiers get hurt and beaten by tons of Terrorism Activists didn't get through to them, because as I said earlier - its 'cool' hating Israel. Wake up, world, wake up and smell the coffee. You are being controlled by groups of terrorism activists who want the U.S, Israel, and a big part of Europe to belong to them, under the means of terrorism. Do you accept that? I don't.

Netanyahu needed the Flotilla stopped before his sheduled meeting with Obama. The flotilla wanted the confrontation to happen the day the two would meet. This is why the IDF boarded in the night on the high seas.

Any eye seeing facts deeper than surface will understand that is an endorsment for Obama's assasination and Biden's replacement his presidency after kililng,

I think this is Joe Biden maneuver , as he ever did some disappointment with regard of settlement issue.

Biden acknowledged an Israeli right to know and an Israeli right to self-defense. That is not synonymous with an attack with deadly armed force in the dead of night on civilians. Neither Biden nor Obama has endorsed the siege or the blockade. Both are counterproductive. Both strengthen Hamas. Both are barbaric. And the Ashdod offer was Bogus and even most Israelis know that aid can sit on the docks and rot in Ashdod for decades.

Building materials are needed by Gaza. Oh yes, Isreal had to invade and defend itself due to rockets and other attacks on their innocent citizens. Sorry Gaza. Leave Isreal alone and your communities will not need to be rebuilt. Since Gaza gets building materials from the boats, will Isreal also get their communities rebuilt by this wonderful humanitarian effort?

Your correct, in hindsight it's easy to point out the errors IDF made. The main problem was "intel", they totally underestimated the "Peace Activists". They thought they would only show passive or symbolic resistance. Hence the IDF commander tried to show in his version that IDF was showing restraint by not making such a big deal out of it. I.e not using dramatic tear gas, sending soldiers down with "paint ball" weapons instead of rifles etc. Instead of dispersing the crowd as planned all hel broke loose as this was the planned, trained, pre-orchestrated act of the Turkey Militia men onboard (using a few high profile left leaning individuals as a cover). In regards to stopping the propeller, IDF said they considered this but the ship was too large to accomplish. They also didn't want to attach explosives to the ship for obvious reasons. The lessons the IDF and it's leadership echelon should take away from this is that these people are waging a MEDIA WAR. They understand that a combat war isn't effective against the IDF they need to sway UN and others against Israel, to justify their fantasies and blood libels. Turkey's PM has been itching for some excuse, some story since he came to power, he hasn't even tried to hide it. IDF has to adapt to this new kind of Media Warfare, equip itself and fight back. What does that mean? Deploy HD Video Cameras into the field, use helmet mounted cameras like the US army has, take down all outside internet, cell phone and satellite reception. Setup your own secure connection with a IDF Media unit that edits and directs this content in almost real-time. Make it available to the public as close to the event as possible. Then the media outlets of the world will start showing your footage, which is the real story of what's happening on the ground. It goes without saying, that in the future IDF will no longer underestimate these activists and will spare nothing to avoid casualties on both sides. They will try to demobilize the vessels and think twice before going onboard again.

If Israel suspended the blockade, Hamas would become more powerful, they would eliminate the American puppet Abbas, threaten the American navy in the Mediterranean and destabilize the corrupt Mubarak. Stopping the racists on the flotilla served American interests more than Israeli ones. Yet Obama condemns Israel while sending the nobody Biden to express some low-profile mealy-mouthed support for Israel. Netanyahu should let the boats pass freely and let the Americans and Egyptians take care of Hamas.

Tal's is right and what he says is true. The world is afraid of these people. Psychologically, it is easy to blame the victim, in this case, the Israeli commandos who were doing a job in defense of their democratic and free nation.

sound like obama administration is more amaturish drunken power blabers, one dday condamn the other support, zigzaging like mad people, to amerikans I hope you read this, I have a quetion what the hell is going on there? making statments before chacking the fact, and every person in the gov say different thing, nobama let them do all the work he does nothing, and with no adult supervision they pull and tag to different directions. sorry for the comparison for lil children, but that is the truth.

1. A maritime blockade is in effect off the coast of Gaza. Such blockade has been imposed, as Israel is currently in a state of armed conflict with the Hamas regime that controls Gaza, which has repeatedly bombed civilian targets in Israel with weapons that have been smuggled into Gaza via the sea. 2. Maritime blockades are a legitimate and recognized measure under international law that may be implemented as part of an armed conflict at sea. 3. A blockade may be imposed at sea, including in international waters, so long as it does not bar access to the ports and coasts of neutral States. 4. The naval manuals of several western countries, including the US and England recognize the maritime blockade as an effective naval measure and set forth the various criteria that make a blockade valid, including the requirement of give due notice of the existence of the blockade. 5. In this vein, it should be noted that Israel publicized the existence of the blockade and the precise coordinates of such by means of the accepted international professional maritime channels. Israel also provided appropriate notification to the affected governments and to the organizers of the Gaza protest flotilla. Moreover, in real time, the ships participating in the protest flotilla were warned repeatedly that a maritime blockade is in effect. 6. Here, it should be noted that under customary law, knowledge of the blockade may be presumed once a blockade has been declared and appropriate notification has been granted, as above. 7. Under international maritime law, when a maritime blockade is in effect, no boats can enter the blockaded area. That includes both civilian and enemy vessels. 8. A State may take action to enforce a blockade. Any vessel that violates or attempts to violate a maritime blockade may be captured or even attacked under international law. The US Commander's Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations sets forth that a vessel is considered to be in attempt to breach a blockade from the time the vessel leaves its port with the intention of evading the blockade. 9. Here we should note that the protesters indicated their clear intention to violate the blockade by means of written and oral statements. Moreover, the route of these 2 vessels indicated their clear intention to violate the blockade in violation of international law. 10. Given the protesters explicit intention to violate the naval blockade, Israel exercised its right under international law to enforce the blockade. It should be noted that prior to undertaking enforcement measures, explicit warnings were relayed directly to the captains of the vessels, expressing Israel's intent to exercise its right to enforce the blockade. 11. Israel had attempted to take control of the vessels participating in the flotilla by peaceful means and in an orderly fashion in order to enforce the blockade. Given the large number of vessels participating in the flotilla, an operational decision was made to undertake measures to enforce the blockade a certain distance from the area of the blockade. 12. Israeli personnel attempting to enforce the blockade were met with violence by the protesters and acted in self defense to fend off such attacks.

This wouldn't have anything to do with Jewish votes in the elections, would it Mr Biden ?!

I agree with you except on the part that the IDF made an error. The Marmara,the only ship that the IDF encountered violent resistance was also the last ship to be boarded. Put yourself in the commanders shoes. You have just successfully boarded 5 ships peacefully. Would you spontaniously assume the 6th is the one that has violent hamas activists and therefore acknoledge the need for preventive measures like tear gas? I would think not. The IDF had no way of knowing what was waiting for them and had they used tear gas on the other ships that did contain innocent humanitarians on them, Israel would still have been portrayed as barbaric for using such means on civillians on international waters. in conclusion, the IDF had no tear gas on them while boarding the Marmara, so it had to protect itself by every means possible. Hope this post helped you get a better insight of the situation

What Joe Biden is really saying is that the US will do nothing further to exacerbate relations with Israel before the mid-term elections. That's why Hillary has desisted from making one of her inflammatory calls to Netanyahu. After the mid-terms, watch out. This US administration is the worst Israel has ever known, not the best. Obama's entire career has been built on meaningless rhetoric that proves to be as empty as ole' Joe's cranium. DKross

i agree with # 11. terrorism, fear and lies their ways and means to conquer the world to islam. wake up world!

The Jewish votes only matters in a few places since they are only 1.6% of US population but are 8% of Congress due to money and better PR but must balance Israel support with US needs. Most in US support Biden's views but are tired of wars and their costs, they want a ME peace deal and Iranian threat stopped.

money He needs the Jews so that by 2012 he can shaft Israel

Stick to your rice and keep your business out of Israels.