Israel's prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu today attacked Turkey for rejecting appeals at "the highest level" to prevent confrontation between Israeli forces and activists on the Gaza aid flotilla.
Netanyahu, the first witness to testify at a state-appointed inquiry into the lethal clash, robustly insisted the raid was within international law and that Israel had the right to defend itself.
The decision to intercept the flotilla was a political one, he said, but its execution was the responsibility of the Israeli military. In a sharp response, the opposition Kadima party said: "At the moment of truth, [Netanyahu] put the blame on others and made the IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] into a punching-bag."
According to Netanyahu's testimony, "continuous diplomatic efforts" were made in the weeks running up to the flotilla's departure to avert a confrontation.
"Ultimately the Turkish government did not prevent the attempt by the Marmara [the flotilla's lead ship] to break the naval blockade [of Gaza]," he said. "Nor did we hear any public message from the Turkish government aimed at calming the excitability of the activists aboard the ship.
"It appears that the Turkish government did not see in the prospect of a clash between Turkish activists and Israel something that clashed with its interests."
Israeli naval commandos intercepted and boarded the Mavi Marmara on 31 May while the ship was in international waters close to the exclusion zone Israel maintains off Gaza's shores. Nine Turkish activists were killed in the bloody confrontation which caused an international outcry and a serious breach in relations between Israel and its strongest regional ally, Turkey.
Netanyahu told the inquiry, headed by retired supreme court judge Jacob Turkel, that he was convinced it would conclude that Israel acted in accordance with international law. His appearance, he said, was "the best proof of the standards according to which Israeli democracy operates."
Ahead of the raid, the prime minister asked that "supreme effort" be made to avoid casualties during the operation, he said. "The raid was a last resort, and the instructions were to conduct it with as little friction as possible."
An earlier investigation into military and intelligence planning of the operation concluded last month that the strength of resistance that Israeli forces would encounter on board the ship was underestimated.
Israeli video footage of the raid, Netanyahu said today, exposed the lie that Israeli soldiers killed "innocent and clement peace activists". He said: "Our soldiers had been confronted with real threats to their lives, facing brutal attack with clubs, iron bars and knives – and, as you certainly have already been informed, firearms."
Netanyahu robustly defended Israel's right and need to maintain a blockade of Gaza, which the flotilla was intended to break. The naval blockade was intended to prevent shipments of arms reaching militants in Gaza. "From the Gaza Strip, Hamas has been raining thousands of rockets, missiles and mortar bombs on the State of Israel, striking at our communities and citizens ... As prime minister, I can't ignore Hamas as a threat to Israel's existence," he said.
The Turkel commission – one of three internal Israeli inquiries into the operation – has a strictly drawn mandate, which includes a bar on pinning blame on individuals. The commission will take evidence from Israel's defence minister Ehud Barak tomorrow and chief of staff Lt Gen Gabi Ashkenazi on Wednesday.