Mulling. Livni
Photo: AP
Unyielding. Barak
Photo: AP
Enraged. Olmert
Photo: Flash 90
Olmert, Barak prevent Qatari ship from sailing to Gaza
Doha authorities ask Foreign Minister Livni to allow vessel carrying humanitarian aid to dock in Ashdod Port. Prime minister, defense minister axe move
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have prevented a Qatari ship docking in Cyprus from sailing to the Gaza Strip, Ynet learned Sunday.
The decision was reportedly made despite Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's promise to the Qatari authorities, that she would consider the matter; and despite the possibility of a diplomatic predicament between Israel and Qatar.
Sealed Seas
Ynet reporters
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"We have no intention of setting up a shipping line to Gaza," said a source in the Prime Minister's Office. "Israel's policy is to maintain the siege placed on Hamas government in Gaza, and there is no reason to give in to provocations. The ship will not sail, not to Ashdod and certainly not to Gaza," added Barak's office.
Livni first got the Qatari plea last Wednesday, when Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Hamad Bin-Jassim Bin-Jabr Al-Thani, called her and asked Israel to grant an 800-ton vessel carrying humanitarian aid permission to dock in Gaza.
Sources in the Foreign Ministry said Livni declined the request, adding that she told the sheikh she would ask the defense establishment to consider letting the ship drop anchor in Ashdod Port; since all humanitarian aid to Gaza Strip must be inspected first and can be delivered by land only.
Breakdown in communications?
At that point, said Livni's aides, the matter was entrusted to the Defense Ministry. Livni's office, they added also tried informing the Prime Minister's Office of the request, but since his political advisor was abroad, Olmert himself was not made privy to the request.
The imbroglio began when Olmert found out about the Qatari plea, on Saturday night. Barak was reportedly told of it only after the initial security check – which is preformed by relatively junior ranks – was complete.
Enraged, the two discussed the matter and decided to deny the ship's arrival to Ashdod. The Foreign Ministry was instructed to inform the Qataris of the decision.
Both the Prime Minister's Office and the Defense Ministry claim that Livni granted the request without consulting them; adding that in today's security climate, and since the Israeli policy is to topple Hamas' regime in Gaza, the foreign minister was not authorized to grant the request.
Livni, added a political source, will now have to deal not only with the fact that she went against the prime minister and the defense minister's policies, but with the possibility of diplomatic embarrassment for Israel.
Livni's office, however, maintains that it was the foreign minister that stopped the vessel from ever leaving Cyprus, adding she followed the same guidelines used in previous pleas of this nature.
"The Qataris were informed that no ship is allowed to sail to Gaza," said a source in Livni's office. "She did tell the Qatari prime minister that the defense establishment must review any requests to supply Gaza with humanitarian aid, but the decision to deny the request altogether was the prime minister's.
"The Foreign Ministry will not inform the Qataris of the decision, as instructed."
