I dont mean the shin gimmel but the whole chain including the political eshelon should be judged.

I've seen the incident on youtube. And can assure everybody that Danish marines would also have shot at minimum nine activist (and probably just most people on deck to secure their comrades.). Next time call Danish Defence Ministry for assistance. (tlf +45 33 92 33 20(

Israel or the media? In the case of the Mavi Marmara, it appears the media was in control. It appears the media was also in control during the last go-around with Gaza. And that is unacceptable. It is an affront by invitation to Medinat Israel and to the soldiers who put their lives on the line to protect Israel. Tzahal and Israel will receive negative press regardless of what is done, where it is done, when it is done and by what means. Either Tzahal is a functioning army with the security of Israel's citizens as a first priority or it's not. Either Israel is a sovereign nation with every right to defend itself or it's not. It is way past time to stop pandering to the media, to NGOs and to the Obama administration.

I don't understand how he could stay defense minister. This guy has been a malediction for Israel.

The day of the flotilla, commentators on this website all predicted exactly what would happen and recommended non-lethal methods of handling the IHH terrorists: tear gas, water cannon, sewage, dogs, snipers, towing the ship to port or starving the terrorists until they surrendered. It is not possible that Ehud Barak the self-proclaimed genius could have known less than ignorant commentators. The only conclusion is that Ehud Barak knowingly made the choice to send the unarmed soldiers to lose to the IHH.

ordered to shoot at each other instead. Actually it is probably the only solution that will truly satisfy both Arabs & Europeans AND Obama.

No one caused the IDF to make a bad operational decision. Your rule book makes you forget about the safety of your soldiers. In addition, your computer makes you think inside the box. There are other ways to keep the ship from carrying out its goals... like blowing out the propellor or dumping water in the smokestack.

is what this article would be called in the US; giving advice after the fact and after the outcome is known. And it is a guess, at best, that the IHH would not have attacked. Has the author seen the videos of the pre-attack “solidarity” meeting? Mistakes? Yes. But it’s easy to speak of afterwards, and even easier to imagine another outcome, even if far from reality.

I didn't know that the task of the IDF was to keep up an image, dictated by biased foreign journalists & NGO's. The sooner Israeli's & IDF stop caring about what the (anyway) Jew hating world thinks, the better it will be. The Jewish obsession of being 'liked has never worked, on the contrary it has always led to disaster!

despite warnings, Israel has ALWAYS had an unprofessional and perverse idea of equating hasbara to PR PR is essential -- it explains true considerations, and can even caution regarding potential hazards, but does NOT run the show. Hasbara is just Israeli craziness. The breakdown was in operational IDF officers and cannot be shifted to anything else.

thinks than what is best for Israel and Israeli's. They should quit IDF and get even higher paid positions working for PIECE NOW... at least then it will be legal income (not under the table).

what's all this talk about how we look? It's war out there. Be prepared and trained. The disengagement part of this story was sickening. Israelis loved the army, what a sheker that has turned out to be. We cannot win the war of the media, period. Anti-semitism is too strong. We must defend our own people, not be nice to our enemies.

This issue has become such a cause celebre because the media keeps reviving it. If the media STOPS covering it, people will begin focusing on more important issues . . . like how poor starving arabs in Gaza are forced to spend US$40 to have buckets of KFC delivered from the Sinai.

about you guys, but I think she is 100% correct. Her only error is to brag about her being active in one of the units that the IDF had created to deal with this problem that created the problem that she was part of creating, I hope you people understood. IDF SHOULD ALWAYS OPERATE ONLY BY THE ONE AND ONLY GOAL=ACHIEVE THE GOAL AS FAST AND AS SAFE (TO IT'S SOLDIERS) AS POSSIBLE-P-E-R-I-O-D.

Seriously, if disengagement decisions were considered meticulous then we are truly screwed.

barak was absolutely responsible for the underarming of idf soldiers on the marmora, a dumb stupid decision. Barak had some good days early in his career but has been a disaster for the last 20 years, an olmert in uniform, appeasing out of fear getting israel in lots of trouble. Thank god he is gone.

The Mavi Marmara was sailing to provide relief to the Concentration Camp of Gaza. Everyone knows it. The problem is Israeli strategic policy - not the IDF or the hasbara

This IDF pr-department is obviously for domestic purposes. They don't tell you the real reasons for your problems with international law, but they don't fool the international media for a second. The main problem with international media is that IDF attacked Marmara on international waters, so the passengers and staff had all the rights to defend themselves against the IDF attack. At that time, IDF was the attacker and Marmara was the victim. According to international law, Turkey was right demanding apology and compensation, but Israel has US backing, so you don't always need to obey the international law. Thank Obama for not spending time in ICC.

The world loves winners and despises losers. The idiots who make most of Israel's decisions fail to understand this, They think that Israel will look good by being plain pathetic and playing the victim. Disgraceful!

I don't think this article to explain the inner workings of Zahal's hi-command, including the political element is going to change any previously held opinions. Should a similar event take place in the future, in full view of the international media, I predict the boarding party will be "armed" with a range of non-lethal immobilizing gear; from hi-pressure water hoses to stun guns already in Zahal's inventory. Please understand im counting on Jewish sachel.........

the zohar--before they (the israel haters) feel that they will be immune to the consequences of their actions they will think more than twice before they act. israel stands by what it says, not like some countries I know and that includes my country.

, who when a boat is in territorial waters, disable it with a net, tower it to the port, disarm everyone on board and sent them somewhere where they can get a proper treatment, like South Sudan or some other non-muslim African country. While expropriating the boat to pay the costs of operation.

The only shame 99 percent of Israleis feel was the shameful apology given to Turkey oh excuse me ALL theMedia feels it was "Wrong " but by now the Israeli public know who and what they are

important to tzahal no doubt, but like you yourself wrote, this would undermine the Israeli soldier on the battle field. He/she would not be properly equipped He is in a sense placed at a disadvantage in battle. No? Why is Tzahal doing that. That department you served in should be dismantled completely. Unchain our soldiers and let them do their jobs they were taught to do. Your department is a shameful and disgraceful department. I now certainly would not blame any religious Jew to join Tzahal .... because with such a mentality as you explained (being fearful of what the world will say), next they must not show their religiousity for otherwise offending the world. THERE WILL BE NO RESPECT FOR ISRAEL IF YOU KEEP THIS UP! ISRAEL WILL ALSO KEEP LOSING THE PR WAR.

During World War ll, the US dropped leaflets warning Japanese civilians to flee cities that weregoing to bombed.

That's what the Israelis tried to do but were met with machetes, knifes and gun yielding terrorists. Israelis could and should have blown the ship into smithereens. End of story. That's what I call a real RAID!. They never would have known what hit them.

"Negative media coverage" is the least of it. This matter is before the ICC because of the issues raised in the Palmer report. Israel's "humane" army shot activists "multiple times" in the back. There was "significant mistreatment" of detainees. And the attack took place 72 miles out at sea, far from the legal blockade zone. I would worry about these charges, not "PR," not "image." Even the author admits "The main threat from the flotilla was to be the credibility of Israel's maritime borders" -- which she redraws at will (see dispute with Lebanon over replotting of the offshore line to appropriate Lebanon's offshore gas reserves.)

Israel must be the most PR-obsessed country in the world, and yet its image is poor. PR just tries to make cosmetic improvements but it doesn't solve the glaring big problem that is at the root of Israel's poor image: the chronic occupation of Palestinian territories and settlement building that further entrenches this chronic condition. Right, Disengagement was viewed positively and the flotilla raid negatively by the media. But the main reason for this was not PR but the fact that the former operation was viewed as a first step in the right direction of easing the burden of occupation while the latter just highlighted that burden. Good luck with the PR business. You might be more successful treating pneumonia with vitamin C.

was drag drag steel cabling across the propeller and disable the ship in international waters. QED