Israel’s enemies remain unrelenting, waging war against the Jewish State on many fronts. Once again a Gaza flotilla is being planned, seeing to break Israel’s security marine lock on Hamas controlled Gaza. The Freedom Flotilla 3 plans to confront the navy and turn the international community against Israel. Seeking to avoid another flotilla confrontation, Foreign Ministry Director-General Dr. Dore Gold Israel has sent a letter to UN Director-General Ban Ki-Moon, calling on the international organization to intervene.

Gold warns the arrival of the ships may “have dangerous ramifications, with the sole purpose of creating a provocation that would be in violation of international law”.

He defends the marine blockade on Gaza as a “legitimate defensive measure” by Israel to prevent terrorists from smuggling weapons into Gaza.

The ship is set to set sale for Gaza on Wednesday, 7 Tammuz, hoping to be joined by other vessels on its way to Gaza.

Channel 2 News reported on Monday 5 Tammuz that the Israel Navy has announced it will intercept any unauthorized vessels.

The flotilla is headed by the Marianne of Gothenburg, a Scandinavian boat. To date it has departed from Sweden via Norway, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy and is scheduled to arrive in Greece on Sunday, 11 Tammuz.

Other vessels are expected to join the flotilla on its way to Gaza.

Israel’s position remains unchanged, and if permitted to inspect the cargo, any and all humanitarian aid headed for Gaza will be permitted in. however, this is dependent on a full inspection.

In a directly related matter, the Knesset’s Ethics Committee and Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein have been asked to rule on the legitimacy of Joint Arab List MK Basel Ghattas’ participation in the flotilla. The Arab MK traveled to Greece this week and hopes to join the flotilla in Europe. Arab MK Hanin Zoabi has also taken part in one of the embargos seeing to break the IDF Navy blockade on Gaza.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)