CRI听力: Israel Found Raid on Turkish Flotilla Legal under International Law

Israel's official report on the Israeli navy's raid last May on the Gaza-bound flotilla has been released; It concludes that it was legal under international law.

Analysts believe the findings will further damage Israel-Turkey relationships in a negative way. Our Jerusalem correspondent Xiaoyu has the details.



After 7 months of investigating, the 300-page report released on Sunday found no wrongdoing by Israeli soldiers and that Israel's blockade of Gaza is legal.

Israeli prime minister expressed satisfaction over the findings of the report.

"I hope that all those who rush to judgment against Israel and against its soldiers will read this report and learn the truth about what happened."

Israeli navy commandos raided one of the ships of Free Gaza Flotilla last May, when they were trying to break the blockade. 9 of the 600 activists abroad were killed, drawing international outcry. A UN report last September said the commandos "had shown an unacceptable level of brutality".

The Israeli report determined Israel's three-and-a-half years blockade of Gaza, as well as the bloody raid on the ship didn't violate international law.

The committee led by retired Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel, heard testimony from high-ranking Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and army chief General Gabi Ashkenazi. But none of the military personnel directly involved in the raid was authorized to provide testimony. The report said that they tried to bring witnesses to speak before the commission, and no one answered their invitation.

Turkey, a Muslim former ally of Israel, has been demanding Israel apologize and the latter refuses to do so.

Israeli analyst Alon Liel said the report will further strain relations between the two countries.

"The committee is very careful not to accuse Turkey. But I think Turkey will be annoyed that it is defined as a terror attack and treated as a terror attack. It will add just more grievances in Turkey, but the relations are bad to begin with."

The second part of the report expected be released later this year will focus on the government decision-making process ahead of the raid.

A separate investigation set up by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is still under way.

For CRI news, this is Xiaoyu from Jerusalem.