Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi testified on Wednesday morning (Aug. 11) before the Turkel Committee, which is investigating the events surrounding the Gaza flotilla. In opening, Lt. Gen. Ashkenazi presented a general security summary and then praised the soldiers from the Shayetet 13 Naval Special Forces for the manner in which they operated during their interception of the “Mavi Marmara”, the provocation ship in the heart of the sea. “As the commander of the army I take responsibility for all the operations executed by the army. The Shayetet 13 soldiers on the Mavi Marmara acted in a proportional and correct manner”, he said.

Lt. Gen. Ashkenazi added that “the soldiers operated at the risk of their own lives and in an extraordinary manner. Today it is clear to us that barely had the first soldier descended upon the ship that the second soldier was already shot at. The soldiers opened fire only on those who they needed to fire at and not those who they did not need to fire at. While making decisions in fractions of seconds, they displayed self-control, courage and ethicality. Whatever your conclusions may be, I am proud of our soldiers”.

“Immediately after the operation, as is our custom, we opened an investigation of everyone concerned, including those at the level of General Staff, and the conclusions of the team of experts headed by Maj. Gen. Eiland were presented to me and to the General Staff. It was then decided to form a work plan in order to learn lessons and improve our actions for the next flotilla”, Lt. Gen. Ashkenazi added.

According to the Chief of the General Staff, the military investigations clarified that “our main mistake was that we were unable to create the conditions in order to have a maximum of force in a minimum of time. I believed that the 15 persons who were on the upper deck would move aside once we arrived in a helicopter at night and threw stun grenades. We should have used more precise weapons in order to neutralize the danger and create sterile conditions on the ship”.

“We should have put soldiers on the sides of the boat with weapons appropriate for neutralizing those who prevented the soldiers on the helicopter from descending. It would have reduced the danger for our soldiers but it wouldn’t have avoided the confrontation, because they came looking for a confrontation with us”, he added.

 (YWN Israel Desk)