Yoaz Hendel
Flotilla raid probe needless
Op-ed: We shouldn’t launch inquiries every time someone accuses Israel of committing war crimes
The Turkel Committee will not be changing the world’s attitude to the flotilla incident. Those who criticized Israel before will continue to criticize it tomorrow as well, and those who blamed it even before the first pictures were published do not really have any interest in the probe’s conclusions.
Those who were silent before will apparently maintain their silence now.
Turkel Probe
Ynet reporters
Turkel Commission says deadly May 31 commando takeover of Turkish 'aid' vessel was 'legal pursuant to rules of international law,' soldiers opened fire in self-defense. On blockade: Israel not trying to starve Gazans
I congratulate committee members for reaching the conclusion that the IDF properly used firearms to counter terrorists, yet with all due respect, we don’t need a commission of inquiry for that. The conclusions and insights that Turkel Committee members will be summing up in a thick report were understood by any attentive Israeli citizens a week after the flotilla raid. All the facts were out in the open for anyone who wanted to see them.
In the era of wars for public opinion nobody keeps their cards close to their chest any longer. The two-way radio recordings, the Turkish mercenaries who sought a diplomatic provocation, the deliberate mixture of semi-blind peace activists and terrorists, the intelligence conception, and the operation limitations faced by the Navy had all been publicized already.
In fact, the Turkel Committee was formed for appearances’ sake only – in order to provide a response to the criticism leveled at the Israeli government. It was a distinguished committee whose only mission was to look into a tactical military incident. An operation that without the media attention would have remained in the realm of IDF inquiry processes.
We must keep in mind that despite the entanglement aboard the Marmara and the many casualties, the takeover of a ship is not a short war or even a limited military campaign. Just like the operation on the Marmara got out of hand, a complex arrest operation in the territories may leave 10 people dead, and as we know even an anti-fence protest in Bilin can result in undesirable outcomes. Establishing an external commission of inquiry with foreign observers for any such incident means doubting the IDF’s ability to scrutinize itself.
The implication of the international pressure on the State of Israel the day after is completely clear to me, yet the fact that Israel critics worldwide, headed by Turkey’s Erdogan, chose to portray the IDF operation as a war crime does not mean we should be cooperating with this.
Those who feel they need more committees in their lives should seek one that would look into the reason for releasing he Marmara terrorists the day after, or the reason why we are discussing compensation and apologies to Turkey.
The Turkel Committee will not be our salvation, but rather, only serve to further cultivate our flawed commissions of inquiry tradition.
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