To me this statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is bizarre. This quote is from CNN but the same can be found in many other articles.
"Israel has nothing to hide," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. "The opposite is true. It is in the national interest of the state of Israel to ensure that the factual truth of the overall flotilla events comes to light throughout the world, and this is exactly the principle that we are advancing."
Especially when contrasted with this excerpt from The Guardian.
The [Israeli] government had fiercely resisted demands for an independent international inquiry, establishing three internal investigations to head off pressure from the UN, Europe and Turkey.
Israel Has Nothing to Hide
Let’s start with the Mavi Marmara. Is there nothing to hide because all the blood has been scrubbed away and all the bullet holes have been covered up in some way?
Next let’s consider all the videos and photographs which were taken by the passengers on the flotilla’s vessels during the seizures, and which were then taken from them by Israel commandos after the seizures. Is there nothing to hide because they were all somehow damaged beyond use during or after the seizures?
There are, however, three things which cannot be hidden.
- The passengers who survived the seizures, who can give statements and testimony about what happened during the seizures,
- The passengers who died in the seizures, whose autopsy reports can be examined,
- The videos of the broadcasts which were made from the flotilla during the seizure.
Then there is this part of PM Netanyahu’s statement
... the factual truth of the overall flotilla events ...
Does this mean that PM Netanyahu is considering using this investigation to put the organizers and/or participants of the Gaza Aid Flotilla under some sort of investigation?
If there is an effort to investigate the flotilla’s passengers, there would also have to be an investigation of the IDF commandos and officers who carried out the seizures. However, PM Netanyahu has already ruled this out. The Israeli Prime Minister’s office has issued a statement which states
"... IDF soldiers and officers will not be investigated by the UN or any other body."
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This is a list of the investigations of the seizure of the Gaza Aid Flotilla which I know about. There may be more which I am not aware of.
- The U.N. Security Council’s investigation
- The U.N. Human Rights Council’s investigation
- The U. S. Justice Department’s investigation of the death of U. S. citizen Furkan Dogan
- Investigations by U. S. lawyers in preparation for filing civil suits in the U. S.
- Multiple investigations by Turkish prosecutors in preparation for filing criminal charges
- Multiple investigations Turkish lawyers in preparation for filing civil suits in Turkey
- The IDF commission’s investigation
- The Turkel committee’s investigation
- The Israeli State Comptroller’s investigation
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CNN Link
The Guardian Link
The Jerusalem Post Link
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Note:
I want Israel to be a safe prosperous country. I also want Palestinians to have a safe prosperous country alongside Israel.
But right now, I want to know, and Furkan Dogan's family wants to know, who killed Furkan Dogan and eight others on the Mavi Marmara, why they were killed, and who is responsible for their deaths.