Turkey kept up the pressure on the United Nations to sanction Israel for a raid on the Turkish-flagged ship, part of an aid flotilla trying to reach Gaza. Turkey called the raid a "massacre," but Israel insisted it was within its rights to defend itself.
"Gaza is a terror state funded by the Iranians, and therefore, we must try to prevent any weapons from being brought into Gaza by air, sea and land," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday, according to Israeli media.
The aftermath of the raid threatens to complicate the Obama administration's efforts to restart peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, analysts said Tuesday.
"This is the zenith of the tension," said Jonathan Schanzer, an analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank. "The fear now is that the tension from this will spill over."
The White House said it supports a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an inquiry into the incident but did not condemn Israeli actions. "We are greatly supportive of their security," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. "That's not going to change."
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said he was unhappy with the response.
"This is a criminal act," he said. "We don't need to make an investigation to see this."
Several Turks were among the pro-Palestinian activists killed after Israeli commandos dropped onto the deck of the Mavi Marmara on Monday to alter its course.
Video of the raid provided by Israel showed each commando being attacked as he was lowered by helicopter. People used metal pipes and bats, according to Israel. One soldier was thrown overboard by the activists and another tossed onto a deck 30 feet below before the commandos requested to use live fire, according to the Israeli Defense Forces.
Seven commandos were injured; two shot, it said.
Israel said 679 people were arrested and about 50 of those had left the country voluntarily. Those who refused to cooperate remained jailed.
Greta Berlin of the Free Gaza Movement, which helped organize the flotilla, said two other boats were due to confront the Israelis this week.
"This initiative is not going to stop," she said from the group's base in Cyprus.
Hamas, which took over Gaza in 2007, seeks the destruction of Israel and has fired thousands of rockets into Israeli towns. The blockade has been enforced by Israel and Egypt to prevent Hamas from obtaining weapons. Egypt said Tuesday it was temporarily opening its border with Gaza to allow in humanitarian aid.
Schanzer said the incident would make it difficult for President Obama to push for peace talks between Israel and Palestine anytime soon.
"They're going to have to get through this difficult period, and then the president will have to make the assessment whether we're even in an environment where the Muslim world will back continued talks," he said.
Turkey's Islamic-rooted administration, led by Tayyip Erdogan, has emerged as a leading voice against Israel and has backed Iran's attempts to thwart U.N. sanctions over its nuclear program. Erdogan empathizes with the Hamas-led government in Gaza, which has largely been ostracized by the United States since coming into power in 2007, said Henri Barkey, a Middle East analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
"This situation could enhance Turkey's opposition to any sanctions against Iran," Barkey said.
Barkey said Turkey has given de facto backing to one of the relief organizations, known as IHH, that sponsored the flotilla. The Israeli government has banned IHH, because it says the group has ties to terror organizations. Schanzer said IHH is connected to another aid group, Union of Good, an organization the U.S. Department of Treasury designated in 2008 a terrorist-sponsoring group funneling money to Hamas.
Barkey said Erdogan makes no apologies for his sympathies to Hamas.
"What the Turks are doing is trying to put their own stamp on international politics, and they're doing it very quickly and in a very dramatic way," Barkey said.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-06-01-gaza-flotilla_N.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-06-01-gaza-flotilla_N.htm
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