JERUSALEM, Aug 9, (Agencies): Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted Israel acted in line with international law in a raid on Gaza-bound aid ships which killed nine Turks, in testimony Monday before an Israeli panel. Netanyahu also accused Ankara of looking to gain from a high-profile confrontation between Turkish activists aboard the lead ship and the soldiers who seized the vessels in international waters. “I am convinced that at the end of your investigation, it will become clear that the state of Israel and the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) acted in accordance with international law,” Netanyahu told members of the Tirkel Commission. Netanyahu looked at ease as he entered the room, smiling at the hordes of journalists and a few members of the public waiting to hear his sworn testimony.

Sitting in a chair facing the five-member panel and the two international observers, Netanyahu opened his testimony with an explanation of Israel’s policy towards Hamas, and of the rationale behind the naval blockade. He insisted the naval blockade was crucial to Israel’s security as it stops vessels from delivering weapons for Hamas, the Islamist movement which rules Gaza and is sworn to the destruction of the Jewish state. Netanyahu said Israel exerted every diplomatic effort to have the ships turn back or dock elsewhere. But Turkey made no effort to prevent the six-ship flotilla from breaking the blockade, which was organised by the “radical Turkish organisation IHH (Foundation of Humanitarian Relief) which supports Hamas,” he said. “The Turkish government did not consider the confrontation between Turkish activists and Israel to be against its interests,” he charged. Even so, Netanyahu insisted he had ordered troops to make “a supreme effort... to avoid harming anyone.”

Netanyahu defended the deadly commando raid suggesting that Turkey had sought the violent confrontation on the high seas. Netanyahu told the commission that Ankara had rejected Israel’s prior appeals to halt the flotilla and refused to intervene despite the prospect of violence between Israeli troops and the Turkish Islamic charity that organized the mission. “As we got closer to the date it became clear our diplomatic efforts would not stop it,” Netanyahu said. “Apparently the government of Turkey did not see potential friction between Turkish activists and Israel as something that goes against its interests.” The six-ship flotilla was trying to deliver aid to Gaza when it was intercepted by Israeli naval commandos enforcing the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the seaside strip. When troops encountered unexpected resistance on one of the vessels, the Mavi Marmara, they opened fire and killed nine Turkish activists, one of them a dual American citizen.

The bloody crackdown sparked wide international outcry and pressured Israel to loosen the blockade of Gaza, imposed with Egypt after Hamas militants seized control of the coastal territory in June 2007.
The five-member Israeli commission, headed by a retired Supreme Court justice and joined by two foreign observers, is looking into the government’s decision-making leading up to the raid. Although it does not have the power to mete out punishment, its findings could be politically damaging to Netanyahu and other top officials. Israel’s defense minister and military chief of staff will also face the commission. The United Nations has announced an inquiry of its own.

A separate Israeli military inquiry found that military intelligence had failed to predict the violent response on board the Turkish vessel, and troops went in unprepared, expecting only passive resistance. But it said the commandos had acted properly. Israel has released video footage showing the commandos being pummeled with wooden planks and metal rods as they landed on the ship. The pro-Palestinian activists on board the Mavi Marmara have said they acted in self-defense after Israeli troops boarded their boat in international waters. There was no immediate comment Monday from Ankara. Turkey’s Islamist-oriented government has harshly criticized Israel for the raid and ties have cooled considerably since. Turkey recalled its ambassador and demanded Israel apologize for the raid. Israel has refused to do so.