Israel Update for July 2010

After suffering engine troubles en route, the ship's Cuban captain-in communication by radio with nearby Israeli naval vessels-obeyed instructions to turn south toward the Egyptian coast, thus defusing a potential confrontation at sea. Hamas officials and others heavily criticized the move. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said such "land and sea convoys must continue," adding he hoped "we can depend on the Islamic nations to help us lift the blockade." Saif then announced he had negotiated the transfer of 50 million US dollars worth of construction supplies and funds into the Gaza Strip by land. The transfer will be coordinated with UN relief workers stationed in the area, he added, indicating that Israel had agreed to allow the operation to take place.

The Turkish Muslim "charity" that launched the campaign to challenge Israel's naval blockade was apparently angry that the Libyan-chartered ship had so quickly diverted to El Arish. Meeting in Ankara two days later, IHH leaders vowed to organize future flotillas in the coming weeks and months designed to provide a string of provocative challenges to Israeli security forces.

At the same time, Egypt signaled that it has no intention of becoming a dumping ground for endless aid bound for the small Palestinian coastal zone. A passenger ferry carrying Jordanian supply trucks and 150 pro-Hamas Jordanian and Palestinian activists was turned back before it was able to land at the small port of Nuweibeh on the Egyptian Sinai coast. The convoy left Amman on June 13 while the Greek ship was heading toward Gaza. The activists intended to drive the trucks up to the Egyptian border crossing point into the Gaza Strip.

World Of Intrigue

Adding dramatic and embarrassing weight to the failed Libyan attempt to run the IDF naval blockade, a little noticed article published in the London Sunday Times last August resurfaced with a bang as the Libyan-chartered ship was heading toward the Gaza Strip. The article had stated that Gordon Brown's government quietly consented to the Scottish decision last summer to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Libyan man convicted of plotting the heinous 1988 terror attack on a US Pan Am jet above Lockerbie Scotland which left over 250 people dead, mostly Americans. He was subsequently greeted as a returning hero by Col. Gaddafi and his sons, including Saif.

As if in a spy novel, the decision to free the mass murderer-who was supposedly on the brink of death but now seems miraculously quite well-was said to be linked to British Petroleum, which is not exactly America's favorite oil company at present. BP was involved in prolonged negotiations to acquire huge oil exploration rights off the Libya coast. However the talks had stalled until the Labour government agreed that the Libyan terrorist mastermind should be set free, said the Times report, producing strong suspicions that BP had lobbied UK officials to secure his release.

At any rate, the Israeli government had already gone a long way to deflect the furious international condemnations which followed the late May fight with Muslim activists at sea. They pointed out that after the cabinet's late June decision to significantly ease restrictions placed on goods and building supplies heading into the Gaza Strip, it was superfluous for cargo ships to head toward the Gaza coast.

UN chief Ban Ki Moon backed the Israeli stand in late July. The US State Department agreed with this assessment as well, issuing a statement that was an apparent rebuke of Turkish government policy. It said direct deliveries of aid by sea "are neither appropriate nor responsible, and certainly not effective under the circumstances." The statement added there was "no need for unnecessary confrontations, and we call on all parties to act responsibly in meeting the needs of the people of Gaza." This came after Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar told the British Independent newspaper that "at least eight more ships will come to us from the Gulf" in the coming months.

In yet another case of bad timing, a new fully stocked shopping mall opened in Gaza City just a few days after the Greek ship landed at Al Arish. Decorated with thousands of balloons and other festoons, the large mall was featured on Israeli television news reports. Video clips showed hundreds of happy Palestinian shoppers milling around the modern mall, featuring ample luxury items, well-stocked food, electronic and clothing stores, pharmacies, entertainment outlets, etc. Of course, Hamas leaders blame Israel for their high unemployment rate which makes it difficult for many Gaza residents to actually purchase the goods. However Israeli officials point out that the area's jobless rate was already high before Israel enacted the blockade after Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza Strip from PA forces in June 2007, and then stepped up rocket attacks upon nearby Israeli civilian communities.

Probe Finds IDF Mistakes

Soon after the international firestorm surrounding the clash at sea began to die down, Israeli military leaders announced they would launch an internal probe to examine what exactly happened during the violent confrontation, especially to determine if the IDF had bungled the operation, as some Israeli politicians and pundits maintained. The examination was conducted by retired Major General Giora Eiland, who served as a government national security advisor and is highly respected in Israel.

Eiland presented his findings to IDF chief of staff General Gabi Ashkenazi on July 19. The 100 page report listed a number of "mistakes" in both the planning and implementation stages of the operation. However the former commander wrote that he found "no operational failures," meaning that the mistakes were genuine but did not radically affect the necessity or outcome of the operation.

In particular, Eiland criticized the Israeli navy for failing to prepare a "Plan B" in case the resistance to Israel's attempt to enforce its naval blockade of Gaza turned violent, as it obviously did. He noted a serious confrontation should have been anticipated after IDF personnel spotted several dozen Muslim men on board the Turkish ship armed with clubs and metal pipes-clearly ready to attack boarding IDF forces.

Eiland detailed evidence that at least one of the Turkish activists was armed with a pistol, noting that a slug removed from the knee of an IDF soldier was different than those used by Israeli forces. He also described the capture of three soldiers, who were then thrown over a railing onto the lower deck of the ship, leaving one of them severely injured. He noted they were only rescued by other IDF commandos 40 minutes later after dozens of hostile passengers on board the ship were finally driven away from the injured Israelis.