Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wisely cancelled this week’s White House visit to rush home to deal with the international crisis created by his decision to interdict the Gaza-bound Hamas-Turkish flotilla and hand Hamas a major propaganda coup.
The blurry black-and-white video footage was not what any Israeli wanted to see: elite navy commandos armed with paint balls (the pistols were only to be used as a last resort) dangling by a rope onto a boat filled with activists wielding metal bars and knives.
The Obama administration wants Israel to conduct a \”full and credible\” investigation into a clash that left nine people dead when Israeli commandos boarded a flotilla shipping aid to the Gaza Strip.
Jacob Dayan, consul general of Israel in Los Angeles, held a news conference at his home on Memorial Day, Monday, May 31, following Israel’s raid on a flotilla off the coast of Gaza Sunday night. When the ships, which were sailing from Turkey, attempted to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, Israeli soldiers boarded the convoy and a violent clash ensued, leaving at least nine pro-Palestinian activists dead and numerous Israeli soldiers injured.
U.S. President Barack Obama told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he deeply regretted the loss of life in an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla on Monday and urged him to quickly get to the bottom of the incident.
Turkey announced Monday that it was recalling its ambassador to Israel after at least nine international activists were killed when Israel Navy commandoes stormed a ship bringing aid to the Gaza Strip.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.