Unfortunately, this diary isn't snark, no matter how much the title may read like it comes out of the Onion.
The title quote comes from a Jerusalem Post article that seems to have been mostly ignored
Israel will use more aggressive force in the future to prevent ships from breaking the sea blockade on the Gaza Strip, a top Navy commander told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
"We boarded the ship and were attacked as if it was a war," the officer said. "That will mean that we will have to come prepared in the future as if it was a war."
For one thing, numerous eyewitnesses ranging from Israel Knesset member Hanin Zoabi to German MPs have made it clear that the Israeli forces were the aggressor, not the attacked.
But the comments are far more threatening considering that the Turkish president has vowed that all further aid convoys will be escorted by the Turkish navy. Furthermore, Turkey is a member of NATO (Israel is not), and Article 5 of the NATO Charter stipulates that
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.
Notably, Article 6 specifically notes vessels on the Mediterranean as a location for which attacks will trigger responses. As it is, Turkey already would be within its rights for invoking its rights as a NATO member, and if in the coming days or week Israel attacks a convoy ship escorted by the Turkish fleet, that will only strengthen its case.
Of course, the US and other NATO members would most likely refuse to use force to "restore and maintain security" (probably by ending the Gaza blockade.) Still, this would effectively be the end of NATO - NATO troops are in Afghanistan because the US invoked Article 5 for the first time in its history. If the US refuses to respond to an attack on Turkey, it would mean the organization has effectively became a subset of the United States, used only to further the interests of the US. At the very least, the remnants of the coalition in Afghanistan would likely withdraw.
In fact, Turkey had already called an emergency NATO meeting today. The result was that the Secretary-General of NATO issued a brief statement.
Today the North Atlantic Council (NAC) met for an extraordinary meeting to discuss the recent Israeli operation against ships bound for Gaza. There was an extensive exchange of views among Allies on all aspects of this tragic event.
I would like to express my deep regret over the loss of lives and the other casualties resulting from the use of force during the incident involving the convoy sailing to Gaza. I offer sincere condolences to the families of all victims and condemn the acts which have led to this tragedy. I add my voice to the calls by the United Nations and the European Union for a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation into the incident.
As a matter of urgency, I also request the immediate release of the detained civilians and ships held by Israel.
Soon afterwords, Israel decided to free the detainees from the Gaza ships (as opposed to putting some of them on trial.) I can only hope that this trend continues, and the crisis has a peaceful resolution
Update 1:
If Turkey does go to war with Israel (very possible if the anonymous source quoted in the title is correct, and Israel attacks the Turkish navy next), the two of them would be close to evenly matched. The Turkish army is very strong - it's the 2nd-strongest army in NATO (after the US), with a standing armed force of about 500,000 in the army/air force/navy - a million when you include reserves, on par with the Israeli military. Both have comparable funding as well (11 billion for Turkey, 13 billion for Israel.) Additionally, the Turkish Navy is the 8th largest in the world (by personnel) and 3rd largest in Europe by fleet displacement. According to one ranking, the Turkish army is the 10th strongest in the world, slightly ahead of Israel. Though I'm not sure of the reliability of the source, Turkey is at least comparable to Israel in military strength.
However, if Turkey and Israel go to war, it won't be alone. Syria and Egypt would probably join in, as well as Hamas. I don't see such a war ending well for Israel (except perhaps on the propaganda front), and hopefully the Israeli leaders realize that too.