Netanyahu says Israel doesn't have to apologize to Turkey

[News_Editor]

Netanyahu says Israel doesn't have to apologize to Turkey

2011-09-05 05:01:06 GMT+7 (ICT)

JERUSALEM (BNO NEWS) -- Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Sunday said his country has no reason to apologize to Turkey for the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid, Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported.

Speaking at a weekly government meeting, Netanyahu expressed hope that the ongoing crisis with Turkey will be resolved soon, adding that "we do not want a further downgrading of the relations." He said that the United Nations (UN) report on the Gaza-bound flotilla raid in which nine Turkish nationals were killed confirmed what Israel knew from the beginning.

"Israel has a right to defend itself," he said. "We do not need to apologize for [stopping] weapons smuggling by Hamas, and we do not need to apologize for working to defend our children, our citizens and our cities."

On Friday morning, Turkey announced that Israel's ambassador and other senior diplomats have been expelled from the country after Israel refused to apologize regarding the incident. It also said that all military ties with Israel will be suspended.

The UN report, released on Friday after repeated delays, stated that the naval blockade was "imposed as a legitimate security measure in order to prevent weapons from entering Gaza by sea and its implementation complied with the requirements of international law."

However, it also stated that Israel's decision to board the vessels with "such substantial force at a great distance from the blockade zone and with no final warning immediately prior to the boarding was excessive and unreasonable."

In May 2010, nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed and dozens more were injured when Israeli commandos boarded a ship participating in the 'Freedom Flotilla I', which was heading to the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid on board. The incident caused global outrage over alleged excessive force, but Israel has denied that and said its commandos were being attacked.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-09-05

[Ulysses G.]

"Israel has a right to defend itself," he said. "We do not need to apologize for [stopping] weapons smuggling by Hamas, and we do not need to apologize for working to defend our children, our citizens and our cities."

Of course. The Turks are hypocrites.

[Credo]

Israel needs to keep a relatively low profile on the issue. They don't need any more enemies in the region.

[maidu]

Interesting how Turkey gets caught up in the whirlwind of others' troubles. It borders Syria, so has to deal with the thousands of destitutes fleeing across the border. It has the Kurd problem its east. On its western border is Greece, being the sick financial child of Europe. Now it has a problem with the boatload of its citizens (and others) trying to run a blockade to Gaza and possibly carrying weapons. Of course Turkey isn't innocent in all this, but it is a reflection of the dire problems in that part of the world which have been going on since pre-crusader days.

I tried to think of any part of the world where conflicts aren't endemic. I came up with Greenland, Iceland, Canada, and perhaps a few islands around the world. Conclusion: Where there are people, there will be such problems of armed conflict and strife. We're a conflicted species, not much different than ants. The higher the concentration the population, the more conflicts.

BTW, I agree with Netanyahu. He's the right man for the job.

P.S. Two differences between ants and humans; ants don't torture their own species, and ants don't carry grudges, certainly not for decades/centuries, as humans do.

Edited September 5, 2011 by maidu

[Ulysses G.]

I tried to think of any part of the world where conflicts aren't endemic. I came up with Greenland, Iceland, Canada

They are all protected by NATO or most likely would have conflicts too.

[johna]

The flotilla was attacked in international waters, no weapons were found, 9 people were killed and many injured, yet some of you still believe Israel's actions were legitimate.

[flying]

"Israel has a right to defend itself," he said. "We do not need to apologize for [stopping] weapons smuggling by Hamas, and we do not need to apologize for working to defend our children, our citizens and our cities."

I do not think anyone begrudges Israel that right.

It seems to many that it is the rights of others that is being denied & it is that same right that he claims.

It is as if he does not claim the right but instead reserves it for Israel alone. That will not fly indefinitely.

What would be the difference if someone constructed a blockade into Israel claiming they did not want weapons delivered?

Has not Palestines children,citizens & cities been destroyed? Do they not have a right to defend themselves?

Yes I know....They are always wrong etc etc etc.

But in life I have yet to find any occurrence where one party is 100% right & one who is 100% wrong.

Edited September 5, 2011 by flying

[Steely Dan]

The flotilla was attacked in international waters, no weapons were found, 9 people were killed and many injured, yet some of you still believe Israel's actions were legitimate.

Weapons were found, knives, clubs and iron bars, furthermore the Palmer report found there was a premeditated plan to use them. As for the blockade it was also deemed legal so if Israel overstepped the mark in intervening so far from it's shore then so did Turkey in not preventing known extremists from boarding the vessel in the first place.

P.S Turkey really has as little business in Gaza as Israel does supporting the Kurds this is what demonstrates clearly that Erdogan is pursuing his own Islamist agenda.

[Ulysses G.]

What would be the difference if someone constructed a blockade into Israel claiming they did not want weapons delivered?

The difference is that Israel is not threatening anybody who does not threaten them first and that Hamas is recognized as a terrorist organization that Israel has a legal right to keep from getting weapons.

The UN report, released on Friday after repeated delays, stated that the naval blockade was "imposed as a legitimate security measure in order to prevent weapons from entering Gaza by sea and its implementation complied with the requirements of international law."

Edited September 5, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[Wallaby]

"Israel has a right to defend itself," he said. "We do not need to apologize for [stopping] weapons smuggling by Hamas, and we do not need to apologize for working to defend our children, our citizens and our cities."

I do not think anyone begrudges Israel that right.

It seems to many that it is the rights of others that is being denied & it is that same right that he claims.

It is as if he does not claim the right but instead reserves it for Israel alone. That will not fly indefinitely.

What would be the difference if someone constructed a blockade into Israel claiming they did not want weapons delivered?

Has not Palestines children,citizens & cities been destroyed? Do they not have a right to defend themselves?

Yes I know....They are always wrong etc etc etc.

But in life I have yet to find any occurrence where one party is 100% right & one who is 100% wrong.

Well said Flying. Israel claims all the rights and denies it to others. Of course they are quite happy to accept weapons and aid, but deny others. You have been on this forum long enough to know that Israel is aways right.

Israel is quite happy to threaten others. They also just take whatever land they want and when the people that are on that land object then Israel threatens and kills, even when it's best friend the US asks it to play nicely and refrain from doing it.. It's called baiting, as some posters on here do quite often.

[Ulysses G.]

Israel is quite happy to threaten others.

Israel agreed to the UN peace deal in 1948 and has offered peace over and over again since and traded land for peace to prove that they mean it. They threaten those who wish to destroy them and those who have no interest in stopping hostilities.

Edited September 5, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[cihan]

the most important thing is israel is getting lonely everyday. first they lose egypt and now turkey. yes i know israel is very powerfull in the world but this doesnt give the right to them to kill innocent people. as a turkish i would have to say that the relations between turkey and israel will never be the same again.

[Scott]

Off-topic posts have been removed. Please stick to the topic and refrain from commenting on other posters.

[flying]

Well said Flying. Israel claims all the rights and denies it to others. Of course they are quite happy to accept weapons and aid, but deny others. You have been on this forum long enough to know that Israel is aways right.

Israel is quite happy to threaten others. They also just take whatever land they want and when the people that are on that land object then Israel threatens and kills, even when it's best friend the US asks it to play nicely and refrain from doing it..

It is obviously a lopsided fight. Also while the US does try to play good cop/bad cop they cannot continue to back Israel & at the same time claim things they are doing are wrong....

The sooner the US distances itself from these things the better. Both morally & financially

It is lopsided as I said & the numbers from even B'TSELEM - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights

depict it as such in Palestinian deaths.

Not unlike this flotilla skirmish. The results are lopsided. The claims are lopsided.

Something is very wrong there in Israel & sadly I do not see it being sorted anytime soon. When one side thinks it is 100% right 100% of the time it is not conducive to peace talks. The same attitude now is shown in the deterioration with Turkey.

Of course it will be subject to what videos are given by the 100% right since they confiscated all others when they stormed the ship.

I do think that if the US stepped aside & did not hand over 8 million dollars a day to Israel it would actually help Israel. Wars & aggressive mentalities take $$$ & the recent 450,000 protestors in Israel may be the beginning of that realization. If they want to continue down this road let them pay for it with their own citizens $$$ not through the future increase in taxation of our US grandchildren.

It surely would help slow the bankruptcy of the USA in a small way too.

Edited September 5, 2011 by flying

[Ulysses G.]

Yes, something is wrong in Israel and it is called Hamas and the PLO before them. Arab terrorists started the hostilities and are to blame for them not being settled. The anti-Israel types try to spin it differently, but that is how it is.

Edited September 5, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[Steely Dan]

As I hinted at earlier Erdogan has his own agenda to consider, and the economic downturn causing unrest within Israel also applies to Turkey, so what better way to deflect people's attention than an external enemy.

http://www.debka.com/article/21269/

In another maneuver to make trouble between Washington and Jerusalem, the Turkish Hurriyet carried a made-up story accusing US Republican sources of leaking a UN Report which maintained Israel's Gaza's blockade - and therefore its interception of a Turkish vessel and flotilla in May 2010 – was legal. The report, leaked to the New York Times Friday, Sept. 9, also criticized Israeli commandos for excessive force for defending themselves in a clash which led to the deaths of nine "peace activists" aboard the ship.

P.S And as the article explains Turkey lacks the naval power to threaten Israel if push comes to shove, further suggesting Turkish threats are merely bluster.

[Wallaby]

Well said Flying. Israel claims all the rights and denies it to others. Of course they are quite happy to accept weapons and aid, but deny others. You have been on this forum long enough to know that Israel is aways right.

Israel is quite happy to threaten others. They also just take whatever land they want and when the people that are on that land object then Israel threatens and kills, even when it's best friend the US asks it to play nicely and refrain from doing it..

It is obviously a lopsided fight. Also while the US does try to play good cop/bad cop they cannot continue to back Israel & at the same time claim things they are doing are wrong....

The sooner the US distances itself from these things the better. Both morally & financially

It is lopsided as I said & the numbers from even B'TSELEM - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights

depict it as such in Palestinian deaths.

Not unlike this flotilla skirmish. The results are lopsided. The claims are lopsided.

Something is very wrong there in Israel & sadly I do not see it being sorted anytime soon. When one side thinks it is 100% right 100% of the time it is not conducive to peace talks. The same attitude now is shown in the deterioration with Turkey.

Of course it will be subject to what videos are given by the 100% right since they confiscated all others when they stormed the ship.

I do think that if the US stepped aside & did not hand over 8 million dollars a day to Israel it would actually help Israel. Wars & aggressive mentalities take $$$ & the recent 450,000 protestors in Israel may be the beginning of that realization. If they want to continue down this road let them pay for it with their own citizens $$$ not through the future increase in taxation of our US grandchildren.

It surely would help slow the bankruptcy of the USA in a small way too.

Well said again. I agree the US should start withdrawing aid (not humanitarian aid) to other countries. The US has enough of it's own issues to deal with at the moment and should look after itself at least until they are back on track.

All we seem to hear is how good Israel is doing and what it has done in the region whilst the other countries starve, yet they still have their hand out begging for money.

I hardly think the flotilla was full of terrorists, it was well known what they were doing and where they were going. I suppose chefs brandishing cooking utensils is now an imminent threat to Israel's security.

[Wavefloater]

It looks like Israel has become a completely rouge nation with no regard for humanities or even a wish to be part of a civilized world.

Most of their actions over the past decade (or more) have proven to many people that they take what they want and do whatever they like.

It would be interesting to see a poll covering people's feelings about Israel through the past decade or so. I would bet that 10 to 15 years ago, the vast majority of Westerners supported or were indifferent to Israel, but now the vast majority is opposed to Israeli actions and politics.

[Ulysses G.]

I hardly think the flotilla was full of terrorists, it was well known what they were doing and where they were going. I suppose chefs brandishing cooking utensils is now an imminent threat to Israel's security.

40 "chefs" armed with "cooking utensils" and ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Edited September 5, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[Steely Dan]

It looks like Israel has become a completely rouge nation with no regard for humanities or even a wish to be part of a civilized world.

Most of their actions over the past decade (or more) have proven to many people that they take what they want and do whatever they like.

It would be interesting to see a poll covering people's feelings about Israel through the past decade or so. I would bet that 10 to 15 years ago, the vast majority of Westerners supported or were indifferent to Israel, but now the vast majority is opposed to Israeli actions and politics.

If any of that is true you can pin it squarely on the arab funded campaign to vilify Israel waged in tandem with their useful idiot left wing allies in the west. If you trace this particular incident back to cause and effect the Turkish government knowingly turned a blind eye to it's own extremists planning action against a legal blockage of a supposed ally in support of a terrorist organization. If Israel had acted as Turkey did they would have expelled the Turkish ambassador for allowing this to happen.

As for rogue state, let me remind you that only last month the Turkish army and airforce killed an estimated 160 Kurds many of them civilians inside Iraq, perhaps Iraq should also be taking this further on a diplomatic level. :jap:

[Ulysses G.]

If any of that is true you can pin it squarely on the arab funded campaign to vilify Israel waged in tandem with their useful idiot left wing allies in the west.

The same useful idiots who rode on board the with the 40 Turkish mercenaries who tried to run Israel's legal military blockade and attacked the soldiers with steel pipes, hatchets and knives.

Edited September 5, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[Wallaby]

I hardly think the flotilla was full of terrorists, it was well known what they were doing and where they were going. I suppose chefs brandishing cooking utensils is now an imminent threat to Israel's security.

40 "chefs" armed with "cooking utensils" and ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Israeli version no doubt. I'm sure the Israeli govt would be quaking in their boots at people having those weapons of mass destruction.

Edited September 5, 2011 by Wallaby

[Wallaby]

If any of that is true you can pin it squarely on the arab funded campaign to vilify Israel waged in tandem with their useful idiot left wing allies in the west.

The same useful idiots who rode on board the with the 40 Turkish mercenaries who tried to run Israel's legal military blockade and attacked the soldiers with steel pipes, hatchets and knives.

Yes one must use the army to board a boat on the high seas to stop those terrible 'weapons' falling into enemy hands. Hamas must be struggling if that is the best lot of weapons they can hope for.

If they were terrorists why did Israel let them go????

[Ulysses G.]

What do you not understand about trying to break the blockade to bring in weapons at a later date? Hamas is already shooting rockets at civilians in Israel on a regular basis.

[Ulysses G.]

I hardly think the flotilla was full of terrorists, it was well known what they were doing and where they were going. I suppose chefs brandishing cooking utensils is now an imminent threat to Israel's security.

40 "chefs" armed with "cooking utensils" and ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Israeli version no doubt. I'm sure the Israeli govt would be quaking in their boots at people having those weapons of mass destruction.

You mean you really can not figure out that these weapons were used against the Israeli soldiers on the hate flotilla after you types have been trying to spin the whole incident for months?

Edited September 5, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[flying]

If any of that is true you can pin it squarely on the arab funded campaign to vilify Israel

Vilify?

It seems to go both ways...

http://www.thejidf.org/2001/09/take-action.html

This organization is like an internet police brown army.

Yet they do not close down just what they deem/judge antisemites

anything that paints them in a poor light is called supporting terrorist much in the same way it is sometimes played here by some.

Note the Alert the US Government section

It is not unlike the system that sells prisoners into Gitmo based on claims.

You folks may claim supposed terrorist are scary but things like this web site are vastly more scary IMO

[Steely Dan]

The truth is plain to see. After the great nation building deeds of Ataturk the lunatics have returned to run the asylum with the old Ottoman bullying supremacist attitudes.

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/09/post-dhimmi-jew-.html

The Muslim world never expressed remorse nor made reparation for its role in Holocaust. And Turkey has never been held accountable for the 1915 Armenian Genocide, resulting the Islamic slaughter of millions of Armenian Christians. Turkey should be sponsoring our Freedom from Jihad flotilla to save the vicitms of sharia living in Muslim countries (we had to push the launch back to raise funds, and get a ship and a country to sail under. Freedom is growing increasingly unpopular in a leftist/Islamic world). Instead, Turkey supported a genocidal mission against Jews. We must demand the end of Turkey's occupation of Northern Cyprus and demand justice for Armenia and the Kurds.

[Wavefloater]

It looks like Israel has become a completely rouge nation with no regard for humanities or even a wish to be part of a civilized world.

Most of their actions over the past decade (or more) have proven to many people that they take what they want and do whatever they like.

It would be interesting to see a poll covering people's feelings about Israel through the past decade or so. I would bet that 10 to 15 years ago, the vast majority of Westerners supported or were indifferent to Israel, but now the vast majority is opposed to Israeli actions and politics.

If any of that is true you can pin it squarely on the arab funded campaign to vilify Israel waged in tandem with their useful idiot left wing allies in the west. If you trace this particular incident back to cause and effect the Turkish government knowingly turned a blind eye to it's own extremists planning action against a legal blockage of a supposed ally in support of a terrorist organization. If Israel had acted as Turkey did they would have expelled the Turkish ambassador for allowing this to happen.

As for rogue state, let me remind you that only last month the Turkish army and airforce killed an estimated 160 Kurds many of them civilians inside Iraq, perhaps Iraq should also be taking this further on a diplomatic level. :jap:

I'm certainly not talking only about this highly questionable incident and Israel once again telling the world to go <deleted> itself because they feel they're above being accountable for their actions. These people have a growing list of heinous atrocities and an obvious disdain for anybody not Israeli.

I am by no means antisemitic and have never been terribly political, but I have undoubtedly become anti-Zionist.

[Ulysses G.]

You folks may claim supposed terrorist are scary but things like this web site are vastly more scary IMO

"Supposed terrorists"? I'm not sure how a website that points out anti-Semitic activity on the internet compares with Al-Qaida, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah and Hamas - who have murdered thousands of people - but I guess that it makes sense to some.

[koheesti]

I hardly think the flotilla was full of terrorists, it was well known what they were doing and where they were going. I suppose chefs brandishing cooking utensils is now an imminent threat to Israel's security.

The flotilla's intention was not to deliver weapons and terrorists to Gaza. The intention was to cause an international incident to put pressure on Israel to end the blockade so that the next flotilla could include weapons and terrorists.

It's similar to the War in Iraq when the enemy forced civilians to speed at a US check point knowing it would get shot up and be a PR disaster for the Americans.

As for the flotilla, Israel should have waited until it got to their waters then sunk it. That would have sent a strong message to future boatloads of "useful idiots".

Edited September 5, 2011 by koheesti