WarSclerotic

via DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security.

Pro-Hamas US activists launch voyage to Gaza with Palestinian olive oil

Turkish ambassador to Washington Namik Tan threatened his government would break relations with Israel unless it apologizes for the commando raid on its flotilla for Gaza. Israel must also accept an indepdent probe and end its Gaza blockade. In Turkey, prime minster Recep Erdogan said Friday, June 4: “I do not think Hamas is a terrorist organization. They are Palestinians in resistance, fighting for their own land,” whereas Israelis were no better than Somali pirates.
This was Turkey’s response to the Netanyahu government’s newfound willingness to soften its determination to maintain Israel’s sea and land blockade against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip – even though the great majority of Israelis believe the blockade is vital to national security and acclaim the naval commandos’ raid on the Turkish-led flotilla as heroic.
DEBKAfile’s military and political sources report that in public, the prime minister and defense and foreign ministers avow their resolve to keep Gaza sealed under tight Israeli control to prevent Iranian arms ships from docking there – for as long as Hamas is at war with the Jewish state.
In practice, however, Israel has opened the door for international, even pro-Palestinian Hamas elements, to monitor foreign freights bound for the Gaza Strip.
This was revealed Friday morning, June 4, in a statement by Foreign Ministry Director-General Yossie Gal about the message he relayed to the Rachel Corrie, the last remaining vessel of the Turkish-led flotilla vessel now on its way to Gaza.
He said: “I would like to transfer a message once more that has already been conveyed through public and private channels to the ship: We have no interest in boarding the ship. If it sails directly to Ashdod port, we will secure its crew and refrain from boarding it. Israel is prepared to receive the ship and unload its cargo. After it is checked to makes sure it contains no weapons, we will be prepared to transfer all of the goods to Gaza.”

But then the Israeli official invited the activists on board the Rachel Corrie to accompany the shipment to the Gaza border.
“We will cooperate with the UN and international organizations in order to ensure that all of the cargo is put to the use of Gaza’s citizens,” he said.
He refrained from mentioning that the activists he had invited to accompany the shipment include members of the violently anti-Israel Free Gaza Organization, partners of the Turkish IHH terrorist group, known for its ties with Hamas and al Qaeda.
The Rachel Corrie responded by denying any message or warning had come from Israel. They were determined to reach Gaza, not Ashkelon. If the ship is diverted to Ashdod, they said, they would not resist Israeli soldiers but sit on the decks and refuse to cooperate.
Foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman declared firmly Friday night: No ships will reach Gaza. “There is nothing simpler than getting us to open the Gaza crossings: Let the Red Cross visit Gilead Shalit,” he said.
DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report: The Turkish government and radical Palestinian and non-Palestinian organizations are working closely together on their next moves, using the first flotilla boarded by Israeli commandos this week as the vanguard of a broader challenge to Israel. They see its Gaza blockade as the outer rampart to be knocked over first. Erdogan has earmarked millions of dollars for the IHH to purchase eight or ten ships bigger than the Mavi Marmara for their next assault, packed with the same “peace activists” as before.

Any sign of Israeli weakness in response to international censure on encourages them to redouble their efforts on behalf of Hamas. In his latest brickbat for Israel, Erdogan saw no contradiction between quoting the Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt not kill” – while solidly backing the murderous Palestinian organization dedicated to Israel’s destruction.
The “peace activists” aboard the Mavi Marmara were recorded on video as telling each other: “Remember September 11th.”  Their pockets were found stuffed with thousands of dollars.
In Jerusalem, police were out in force to quell Palestinian riots in support of Turkey. Hurling rocks at passing Israeli cars on the streets of East Jerusalem, the demonstrators shouted: “Erdogan, come and destroy Tel Aviv!” Turkish flags were seen on city streets for the first time since the Ottoman Empire was defeated.

An Open Letter to Turkey – Op-Eds – Israel National News.

by Dr. Arash Irandoost

Opinion | Israel refuses to commit suicide | Seattle Times Newspaper.

America Needs to Stand with Israel Now – HUMAN EVENTS.

Israel has come under attack yet again from leaders around the world who are calling the actions taken earlier this week by Israel’s military “criminal” and “inhuman.” When Israeli soldiers, enforcing a blockade put into place to stop arms and money from being smuggled into the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip, stopped six flotillas headed towards Gaza to inspect their cargo, passengers on the final ship put up strong resistance by immediately attacking the soldiers upon their descent from a helicopter.

The soldiers were attacked with knives, clubs, and other weapons.‬  Video even shows the passengers throwing an Israeli soldier over the side of the ship.

Yet, that has not stopped the world from immediately rebuking Israel and demanding they make an apology for their actions, which were merely actions of self-defense.‬

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed “regret” for those passengers who lost their lives in the struggle, but said the Israeli soldiers “had to defend themselves, defend their lives, or they would have been killed.” Reviewing the video evidence, it would be tough to make a case otherwise.‬

When the ship was ultimately secured, the Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli Defense officials “identified about 50 passengers on the ship who could have terrorist connections with global jihad-affiliated groups. The military also discovered a cache of bulletproof vests and night-vision goggles, as well as gas masks.” They also report that the suspected terror suspects “refused to identify themselves and were not carrying passports. Many of them were carrying envelopes packed with thousands of dollars in cash.”‬

Yet, despite these facts, the Obama Administration has decided to remain on the sidelines and leave Israel to face the world alone, effectively abandoning our longtime friend and ally when they need us the most. By the United States taking such an ambiguous position on these recent events, our mutual enemies will be emboldened, rather than deterred from further acts of aggression.‬

Knowing full well that Islamic radical factions and Iran are aggressively pursuing nuclear weapons while at the same time stating that Israel must be “wiped off the map,” the United States would be foolish to remain indifferent in this instance. It would simply be a reckless foreign policy position to take, and we must demand more of our government whose role it is to keep our nation safe and secure.‬

The United States has been blessed by a rich and shared history with Israel, and our alliance has secured for both its citizens a very safe and prosperous future. With that said, we have an opportunity now to stand shoulder to shoulder with our friend, our ally, Israel, and show our unwavering support.

Or, we can continue on the current path seemingly favored by this administration, one in which we view Israel as just one of several players in the Middle East, not exceptional, and not deserving of our full and unbridled backing.

I sincerely hope we choose the former, for a strong and vibrant Israel means a strong and vibrant America.

Ahmadinejad predicts Israel\’s collapse, warns West over support | Earth Times News.

Tehran – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday predicted the collapse of Israel and warned the West over its continued support of the Jewish state.

“Its final collapse is imminent and regional nations will eventually eradicate this regime,” Ahmadinejad said.

“Those countries still backing this criminal regime should stop their support or otherwise face trial as war criminals,” the president added in a speech at a ceremony marking the 21st anniversary of the death of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic republic.

While referring to this week’s deadly raid by Israeli commandos on an aid flotilla bound for the blockaded Gaza Strip, Ahmadinejad said the attack “was out of both weakness and madness.”

The raid met with international condemnation.

He further warned US President Barack Obama, saying his support for Israel could be the main reason for the end of his presidency.

A protest against the Israeli raid was planned for after the anniversary ceremony, state television reported.

Smaller protests were held in front of the UN office and British embassy in Tehran, during which demonstrators demanded an end to international silence to what the protestors called Israeli crimes.

Iran does not acknowledge the sovereignty of Israel and considers the Jewish state the root of all problems in the Middle East.

Joining the Jackals | The Weekly Standard.

The Obama administration abandons Israel.

BY ELLIOTT ABRAMS

At the United Nations, a lynch mob for Israel is always just a moment away.  The Islamic countries are a reliable source of venom, led by the Arab bloc; what we used to call the “non-aligned” are all aligned against Israel and happy to join the fun; and the Europeans can be counted on for hand-wringing rather than staunch resistance. Only the United States, and a few brave allies like Canada and Australia, can be counted upon to oppose diplomatic lynchings year after year; and only the United States can stop them in the Security Council.

In the American government, it is never the State Department bureaucracy that wishes to brave the endless assaults at the UN. Normally the resistance comes not from the various regional bureaus or from the International Organizations bureau, where Israel is so often viewed as a giant pain, but from the White House and sometimes (example: George Shultz) the Secretary of State.

This week the mob formed again, instantly, after the Gaza flotilla disaster, reinforced this time by the leadership of Turkey, whose language at the UN was more vicious than that used by the Arabs.  As usual there was really only one question once the mob began to gather.  It is the question that arose repeatedly in the Bush years—when the Hamas leaders Sheik Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi were killed by Israel, when Israel acted in Gaza, when Israel put down the intifada in the West Bank, and during the 2006 war in Lebanon and the late 2008 fighting in Gaza: would Israel stand alone, or would the United States stand with her and prevent the lynching? Would the U.S., in Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s memorable phrase, “join the jackals?”

This week the Obama administration answered the question: Yes we would, and Israel would stand alone.  It is simple to block the kind of attack issued as a “President’s Statement” on behalf of the Council, for such a statement requires unanimity.  The United States can just say “No,” and make it clear that orders have come from the White House and will not be changed.  Then negotiations begin on a serious statement—or, there can be no statement at all.  The killing of dozens of South Korean sailors by North Korea in an action that truly threatens the peace did not evoke the kind of action the Security Council took against Israel, proving that the UN does not always act, or act in the same way, when news flashes hit.  Whether Israel is slammed depends on whether the United States is willing to take a stand.

On the Gaza flotilla, the Obama administration waffled and straddled.  It agreed to a statement in which the United Nations condemned the “acts” that led to loss of life but did not say “We condemn Israel.”  Presumably White House congratulated itself on this elision, but no one is fooled: the world media keep repeating that the Security Council condemned Israel, and in this case it is hard to argue.  Yet it would have been simple to stop the mob had the White House wanted to.  The facts were not in yet and indeed are still not in.  The videos suggest that dozens of people (all Turks, it appears, but that too is not fully clear) on the boats were armed and dangerous.  Reports are circulating here that some of those “peace activists” had gas masks and night vision devices, carried no identification papers, wore bullet-proof vests, and carried large amounts of cash.  The background, the Hamas coup in Gaza and more than three thousand rockets into Israel from Gaza, is clear.  The fact the Egypt has for three years (until the pressure mounted this week) refused to open its border to Gaza is understood at the UN.  So the material was at hand to block the lynch mob and say we would accept only a statement that mourned the loss of life.  We did not have to accept the word “condemn” or join in the call for another Goldstone Report.

No doubt the administration will claim it avoided a worse result, a Council resolution condemning Israel.  To which the answer is, “not good enough.” The U.S. has the power to block all anti-Israel moves in the Security Council, not just some of them, and to do so without agreeing to unfair, damaging compromises.

So why did we agree to the presidential statement?  The White House did not wish to stand with Israel against this mob because it does not have a policy of solidarity with Israel.  Rather, its policy is one of distancing and pressure.  This was evident last week at the NPT conference as well, where a final statement that singled out Israel while ignoring Iran—precisely what the Bush administration blocked in 2005—was permitted by the United States.  From this perspective, it is just as well that Prime Minister Netanyahu did not make it to Washington this week, where a phony love fest would have pictured him in the Obama embrace.  The entire purpose of the invitation was to “change the atmosphere” and reverse the damage done during his last visit, where photos of Netanyahu with Obama were not permitted. There were no doubt many rabbis, Jewish leaders, and Democratic party pols prepared to beam and conclude that all the troubles are behind us.

But the events at the UN this week showed that they are not, because Obama policy has not changed.  This reality is sinking in fast in Jerusalem, where the UN is understood as an excellent barometer of the White House—in any administration.  Does the White House accept, indeed relish, the need to defend Israel against all comers—Pakistan, Turkey, the Arabs, weak-kneed Euro-dips, UN bureaucrats?  Is this understood as a chance to show what America really stands for in the world? Or is Israel seen by the president as a burden, an albatross, a complication in his grand struggle to re-position the United States as a more “progressive” power?

We got the answer, again, this past week, and so did Israelis.

In Israel, the press reporting on the Gaza flotilla is straightforward: there were probably intelligence and operational failures; why did we not know how many armed men there were on board, and come prepared; the Ministry of Defense and the IDF must investigate; but the moral equation is clear. This flotilla was an act of solidarity and support for terrorism, and thirty or forty armed men lay in wait for Israeli commandos.  Had the commandos not fired to save themselves, this would have been Israel’s very own “Blackhawk Down” incident.

Israelis see clearly the problems they face when the United States is calling for another international investigation and will not defend Israel.  They understand that no one is going to investigate Turkey and its role, nor investigate the pro-terror groups on board those ships—not if the United States fails to insist on it.  They realize that, thanks to the Obama policies, it is now open season on Israel in Europe and at the UN.  They speak candidly (Israelis of the left, center, and right, not just Likud supporters) in private about all these problems, but they cannot speak openly about them, not when they may have the Obama administration to deal with for six and a half more years. They wonder most about whether their friends see their predicament, and will speak up for them even when they must—to retain a working relationship with the White House—remain silent or speak very carefully. So this crisis is not only a test for Israel, which faces difficult weeks ahead, and for the Obama administration, which in fact has already failed. It is a test for Israel’s supporters, facing the combined onslaught of the news media (from BBC coverage to New York Times editorials), scores of governments, UN bureaucrats, and a White House that views excessive solidarity with Israel as a diplomatic inconvenience.  The United States abandoned Israel in the United Nations and in the NPT Conference in the course of one week.  Israel’s friends in the United States should say so, say it was shameful, and gear up for a long fight.

Elliott Abrams is a senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

DEBKA.

Gaza welcome

A funny thing happened to Gaza’s Hamas rulers this week. Israel’s commando raid on the Turkish Mavi Marmara on May 31 prevented the flotilla it led from docking at Gaza Port, but it also generated a new, unforeseen reality which placed their armed offensive and Israel’s strategic maneuverability on a completely new footing.
If Israel saw its friends disappearing (see separate article in this issue), Hamas found new champions in unexpected places, who presented him with great new opportunities on a platter:
1. Military action for vanquishing the Jewish state suddenly looked superfluous. Hamas’ missiles and rockets may continue to terrorize Israel’s southwestern towns and villages in the months or years to come, but they will never generate the astounding benefits dropped in the extremist Palestinian movement’s laps this week, without their lifting a finger. All they had to do was to hang out welcoming flags for the flotilla’s Free Gaza sympathizers across the Gaza Strip. Even though the ships did not reach Gaza, the effect they created was just as good and cause for celebration.
2. This perceived success has placed Israel and Egypt and their siege of Gaza on the defensive.
Egypt read the omens first and announced on Tuesday, June 1, the reopening the territory’s Sinai border crossing for several days. Cairo may find it hard in the political and military climate prevailing in the Middle East to restore its tight restrictions on traffic through Sinai into Gaza.
Israel too finds its naval blockade seriously challenged by the Turkish-initiated flotilla expedition.
The lifting of Egyptian restrictions opens the Rafah route to the import of non-military goods, allowing Gaza’s smuggling tunnels to revert exclusively to the illicit traffic of weaponry for the Hamas and their fellow extremists. This is a windfall they never believed possible in the circumstances prior to the flotilla episode; it is a serious setback for Israel’s efforts to defend its southwestern population against missile and terrorist assaults.
3. Three years after seizing power in the Gaza Strip in a coup against Mahmoud Abbas‘ Palestinian Authority, Hamas leaders see their moderate rivals as a spent force with nothing to show for their acceptance of US patronage in terms of political gains for the Palestinian people and Israeli concessions.
In the eyes of Hamas, the nascent radical camp led by Iran, Syria and Turkey used its baptism of fire this week as the platform for an astoundingly successful propaganda campaign generating support from the West as well as the Muslim world for the Palestinian extremists, and pressure for Israel to end its embargo of the Gaza Strip – unconditionally. The surging radical propaganda has drowned out demands for Hamas to recognize Israel, abandon violence and free its hostage, Gilead Shalit.
Gaza’s rulers are convinced more than ever before that going along with the new radical camp pays the richest dividends and will soon catapult them into the seat of West Bank government in Ramallah in place of the Abbas-Fayad regime – without firing a shot.

Hamas looks forward to the bidding between Ankara and Tehran

The Palestinian Hamas, like the Lebanese Hizballah, found confirmation in this latest incident that, withal its military and technological prowess, Israel never manages to bring its military campaigns against radical Islamist foes to a final victory – or even completion. Israel’s generals are invariably ordered by the politicians, whether in Jerusalem or Washington, to hold their horses in mid-course and wait for international diplomacy to kick on. The result more often than not sends Israeli troops falling back to the starting line.
The retilting of the Middle East balance of strength is perceived by Hamas as presenting it with fresh choices of sponsors.
Which radical Islamic power best suits its interests? Stick with Tehran, its chief supplier of military hardware, and training, or strike out in a new direction by sending its leaders on their first trips to Ankara?
Their decision can wait. Tehran and Ankara are not yet vying for the lead-position in their new radical Islamic bloc or bidding for support from inside their camp. For the present, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad is grateful to the flotilla episode for diverting Western attention from his nuclear program and happy to walk hand in hand with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.
But in Gaza and Damascus, there is awareness that this idyll may be short-lived. Once the United States and Israel are shunted to the sidelines, Ankara and Tehran will challenge each other for the top spot in the Middle East leadership stakes and the prerogative for dictating its agenda.

DEBKA.

The language heard in Jerusalem for the fallout of the Israeli commando raid of the Turkish-led Gaza-bound flotilla of May 31 was the harshest ever heard from members of Binyamin Netanyahu’s government. One senior minister called the international chorus of censure a ‘lynch in broad daylight.’ Others said Israel was being inundated with “a tsunami of hate,” stunned by exhibitions in many places, and not just Tehran, of a burning desire to eradicate the Jewish state.
On Wednesday night, June 2, the Prime Minister went before TV cameras to declare that Israel was under attack by an international coalition of hypocrites.
While most of his aides found his words emotional, they too were moved to ask: Where is the United States just when Israel needs the support of a rock against an international lynch mob? After all, when President Barack Obama invited Netanyahu to meet him at the White House Tuesday, June 1, his avowed purpose was to seal the efforts he has made in the last month to mend his fences with Jerusalem and recover the support of American Jewish leaders, after admitting he erred in his mistreatment of Israel and was anxious to make amends.
(The meeting did not take place because the prime minister was recalled home in a hurry in the wake of the damage caused by flotilla episode.)

Actions inconsistent with pledges of a new page

At the same time, Obama administration’s most recent actions in two important international arenas were not exactly consistent with the president’s promise to turn a new page with Israel.
1. The United States supported a resolution at the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference which singled Israel out for a call to join the treaty and place its nuclear facilities under international inspection. The resolution also calls for a summit in 2012 to work for a nuclear-free Middle East. Iran was not mentioned in the text.
2. This week, the United States joined a United Nations Security Council statement “condemning the loss of life and injuries” resulting from the use of force during the Israeli military operation in international waters against the convoy sailing to Gaza and condemned those acts and calling for an impartial investigation.
True the American delegation took the worst sting out of the motion and straight after the incident the Obama administration voiced “deep regret” -which sounded better than European Union leaders’ condemnation of Israel for using “excessive force.”
Still, officials in Jerusalem and many people in Washington believe that by letting Israel stand alone against what feels like a diplomatic “lynch mob” without strong US support provides many governments and movements with a green light to fire their heaviest guns for blowing Israel away.
On Tuesday, June 1, Meir Dagan, Director of the Mossad, Israel’s external security agency, was asked by Prime Minister Netanyahu for a rejoinder to the US government’s shilly-shallying in Israel’s time of need.
In a rare public appearance before the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, he did not pull his punches.

America as a jackal in decline

The progressive decline of American strength over the past decade and the perception of the Obama administration as “soft on military options for solving disputes” have shrunk Israel’s space for military manoeuvre and made it fair game for its enemies. America’s ability to generate situation-changing measures in any part of the world was waning, said the Mossad chief, and this weakness reflects directly and negatively on Israel’s strategic wellbeing.
He warned that the current US administration is in the process of making of Israel “a liability instead of an asset.” The US president, said the Mossad chief, seriously considered forcing Israel to accept a dictated peace formula. He only backed off when he saw this tactic would not produce a peace accord.
But that was “only a tactical retreat, said Dagan. Events of this nature could career out of control “and lead (US-Israel relations) into extreme situations.”
The same day, the Weekly Standard published an article by Elliott Abrams, a former senior foreign policy adviser to two US Republican presidents, entitled “Joining the Jackals – The Obama administration abandons Israel.”
The article made a big impression on American Jewry. It was then that the Obama administration understood that its actions had wiped out the advantages his fence-mending campaign had gained among American Jews.
The next day, on Wednesday, he sent Vice President Joe Biden to PBS’ Charlie Rose program with a change of tune: “While Israel’s actions in dropping troops on the ships can be argued,” said Biden. “Jerusalem which has had 3,000 rockets falling on its citizens has the right to know what cargo is headed to Gaza. So what’s the big deal?”
But his words did not stem the tide of hate pouring down on the Jewish state from the four corners of the world – nor was it intended to, since not by a single word was Turkey condemned for whipping it up by aligning itself with – and utilizing the services of – the most destructive, hate-driven, anti-West and anti-Israel radical elements, including terrorists in close rapport with al Qaeda.
Jerusalem will not forget this letdown in a hurry – and neither will American Jewish leaders.

DEBKA.

The “Gaza Freedom Flotilla” raided by Israeli naval commandos on May 31 was the opening shot of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan‘s master-plan for breaking Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza and wrecking its international and regional standing. None of the aides working on this assignment – or Erdogan himself -imagined for a moment that the first round would harvest such tremendous gains: Israel’s blockade on Gaza is already teetering and its international standing has never sunk so low. Now, its very right to exist as a sovereign nation is called into question.
The runaway success of his anti-Israel campaign has crowned Erdogan overnight as the most renowned Muslim figure, pushing even Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinjad out of the spotlight. To keep up the momentum of his popularity and bring his vision of restoring Turkey to its old glory as Middle Eastern and Islamic superpower to early fruition, he must carry on as he started.
The Turkish prime minister’s most useful resource is the Insani Yardim Vakfi, better known by its acronym of IHH, an organization with a lurid terrorist past in association with al Qaeda, whose head office in Istanbul with branches in 100 countries.
The IHH’s usefulness for his purpose is enhanced by its partnership with the Palestinian Free Gaza Movement, which is run from Brussels by a “human rights office” headed by an American Jew called Adam Shapiro

Erdogan plans eight to ten large ships for Flotilla No. 2

Erdogan lifted this radical IHH out of penury by mobilizing Turkish and other Muslim donors to provide the millions of dollars needed to buy large ships, the first of which was the Marmora seized by Israeli commandos. To speed the flotilla on its way to Gaza, Turkish port authorities were instructed not to ask its passengers for passports or submit them to the usual registration and security screening processes.
Loath to let the grass grow under his feet, The Turkish leader has drawn up three scenarios for follow-up operations that may well bring Turkey into more clashes with Israel, as revealed here by DEBKA-Net-Weekly‘s Ankara sources.
1. He has given Israel an ultimatum to lift the naval and land blockade of Gaza at once. Erdogan is holding continuous emergency cabinet meetings attended by all his generals so as to be able to launch military action to forcibly break the blockade at any given moment. Turkish forces have been concentrated and held ready in Cyprus (as reported in the first article of this issue).
Turkey’s leaders drew encouragement from the huge crowds gathered for the funerals of the nine activists killed resisting Israel’s commando raid on the Turkish vessel and the banners calling on the Turkish government to avenge their deaths as martyrs.
2. Turkish action might also depend on how the Ankara government means to use the Irish-flagged Rachel Corrie, which lagged behind the flotilla because of technical problems. On Wednesday, June 2, DEBKAfile‘s military sources reported that the ship had altered course and, instead of continuing toward Gaza, set sail for Turkey.
This has given the Turks a chance to deploy a fresh trained IHH combat group aboard the ship and send it on to Gaza, thereby provoking another clash with the Israeli Navy.
An even more dramatic encounter would ensue if an escort of Turkish warships and jets were attached to the blockade-buster vessel, except that Erdogan now believes that Israel has been so intimidated by the international outcry against its military operation on the Marmara that Benyamin Netanyahu will not dare mount another challenge to his plans.
3. IHH and Free Gaza Movement agents are currently on the lookout for bigger passenger ships than the Mavi Marmara for their next flotilla. Erdogan has provided them with enough money to buy eight or ten vessels to blow the Israeli blockade sky high. The idea is to have them ready to launch Free Gaza Flotilla 2 in about six weeks. Erdogan’s planners are thinking of placing Turkish marines aboard the ships to deter Israel from attacking them as well as armed naval and air escorts.

DEBKA.

Mavi Marmara

Israeli military officials admitted that a failure in military intelligence was at the root of the contretemps Israeli commandos experienced aboard the Mavi Marmara Wednesday, June 2, to the accompaniment of a worldwide chorus of condemnation for the nine activists who were killed and 45 wounded.
Protests were widespread and extreme, verging in some places on denials of Israel’s very right to exist.
Ignorant of what type of passenger had been taken aboard the Turkish vessel, the relevant Israeli intelligence agencies omitted to forewarn the troops of what to expect when they landed on deck, or make sure their numbers were up to the task of quietly steering the boat away from Gaza and over to the Israeli port of Ashdod.
The troops were under-armed and mentally unprepared for the violent reception awaiting them.
Israeli military officials talking to DEBKA-Net-Weekly admitted that it was only thanks to their resourcefulness, courage and self-sacrifice that those commandos, badly let down by their intelligence support service, were able to take charge of the ship and bring it to port.
The episode was a disaster in terms of political fallout and the damage to Israel’s good name.
Our analysts stress that the intelligence failure went beyond the mere lack of information; like other Israel’s security setbacks, – such as the 1973 Yom Kippur War – it was the outcome of fatally erroneous preconceptions.
Up until the critical date of May 31, Israeli decision-makers still regarded Turkey as a military and intelligence ally and gave it its due as a member of NATO. Their officers were in daily contact, their undercover agencies swapped intelligence, the Turkish army was awarded Israel-made weapons systems with secret sophisticated components and the county was never targeted by Israeli espionage.

Erdogan schemed to trap Israel for four years

Israel and its secret services clung to this conception right up to this week, although it had been obvious for three years that Turkish intelligence had changed its spots and was not above conning Israel by planting false information.
Refusing to heed the new winds blowing in Ankara, Israeli policy-makers misread Turkish prime minister Recep Erdogan‘s real intentions, certain that Turkish-Israeli friendship and their military alliance were as sound as ever.
In fact, as DEBKA-Net-Weekly‘s intelligence sources disclose, Erdogan began setting the trap into which Israel fell this week four years ago.
He started by planting aspersions – which caught Turkish press headlines in March 2007 – of a vast conspiracy hatched by prominent secular activists to murder and terrorize civilians. The left-of-center political weekly Nokta ran alleged entries from the diary of Admiral (ret.) Ozden Omek, which referred to a 2004 plot to inflame street violence as the precursor to a military coup against the pro-Islam government.
Omek’s denials of the authenticity of these excerpts notwithstanding, their publication fueled old suspicions of a shadowy network of generals, intelligence officials and organized crime bosses, who were said to be quietly plotting a campaign of violence targeting the Turkish government – and especially against Prime Minister Erdogan.

Blackening the Mossad was the next stage

The next stage unfolded in July 2008, when the Turkish prosecution published a 2,455-page indictment accusing a far-right militant network called Ergenekon of plotting to overthrow Prime Minister Erdogan. It was described as an elaborate secret society of retired military officers, journalists, academics, businessmen, and other secular opponents of the pro-Islam prime minister. But the punch-line was the source of its intelligence, weapons, explosives and funds, named as… the Mossad, Israel’s external espionage service.
Although the Mossad was mentioned on every page of the indictment, not a word of protest ever came from Jerusalem, either from the Ehud Olmert government or its successor under Binyamin Netanyahu.
They kept quiet – not because there was any truth in the allegations, but because Jerusalem saw them as arising from Turkish political feuding, which Israel was best advised to stay clear of.
This was also the view of Israeli secret agents’ US colleagues, based on the impression they received from their Turkish counterparts – who themselves maintained ties with those Israeli clandestine officers until recently – that the indictment was widely seen as a fabrication to provide Erdogan with a large whip for keeping the Turkish Army and secret services in line.
So Jerusalem buried its head in the sand, convincing itself that the libelous fiction did not and would never impinge on the solid strategic bonds Turkey’s armed forces and undercover agencies had forged since 1996 with Israel’s Defense Forces, Mossad, military intelligence and the Shin Bet – particularly when the partnership yielded so much valuable help for Ankara’s fight against terrorists.

Old Turkish friends said there would be no trouble on the flotilla

Moreover, in 2007, the year the indictment was drummed up, Prime Minister Ehud Olmertagreed to Erdogan acting as senior mediator in peace talks with Syria, which gave the Turkish leader a tremendous boost in his regional ambitions.
By this step, Olmert contributed willy-nilly to the eventual establishment of a new radical Middle East bloc bringing together Turkey, Iran, Syria, Hizballah and Hamas. This grouping, known now as the Northern Front, is quickly growing into the most powerful and proactive Islamic military-political alliance in the region – and no friend of Israel.
The scale of Israel’s misjudgment was plain to see when the clash aboard the Marmara sent masses of demonstrators from every walk of life out on Turkish city streets shouting “Death to Israel! and “Send the Turkish Army to free the Palestinian homeland!”
The deep hatred for Israel generated by the current Turkish regime burst into the open when the treacherous Ergenekon underground was dragged up as the prototype of Israel’s underhand operation against the Turkish-flagged vessel.
But that was after the event.
Before it all went wrong and Israeli military intelligence officers still trusted their Turkish friends, Erdogan took advantage of that trust and used his growing control of the Turkish army, with the help of its Chief of Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug , to gull its erstwhile Israeli colleagues.
DEBKA-Net-Weekly‘s intelligence sources reveal here that when Israeli military intelligence officers asked their Turkish colleagues to profile the people aboard the Gaza-bound flotilla, they were told blandly that they were ordinary nonviolent civilian protesters who would give them no trouble when the ships were commandeered.
This was accurate with regard to the five smaller boats, but the Israelis were deliberately misled with regard to the bigger Marmara. They were not informed that the ship was in the hands of a hundred or so hard-core Islamists trained in face-to-face combat, or about the weapons they kept aboard for beating back the Israeli commando force. Six Israeli soldiers were seriously hurt before the violence was put down.
And so, by this well-laid scheme, Erdogan contrived to pull the wool over Israel’s eyes while also torpedoing the two countries’ military ties and the close cooperation and trust which had long bound their intelligence agencies.
He then continued to drive the knife in by accusing Israel Thursday, June 3, of “a historical mistake.”
This mistake is not only against Turkey, it is against civilians from 32 different countries,” he said.