JERUSALEM, August 9, 2010 (WAFA)- The Israeli Army was responsible for deciding how to carry out the raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla of ships that ended in bloody clashes and the deaths of nine people, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Turkel Commission, probing the incident.
Netanyahu said, before the Turkel Commission that he had put Israeli Security Minister Ehud Barak in charge of the operation.
When asked by the head of the panel, retired chief justice Jacob Turkel, whether or not it was the Israeli Army which decided the means by which to halt the flotilla, Netanyahu said, 'Yes, that's standard procedure.' He added that it is the role of politicians 'to determine policy' while 'it is up to the military to execute it,' according to Haaretz.
Benjamin Netanyahu arriving to testify to the Turkel panel on the Gaza aid flotilla, in Jerusalem today, said evaded panel member Amos Horev's question on which options were considered, and asked to discuss the matter behind closed doors.
When asked by former justice Turkel who Netanyahu had put in charge of the operation during his trip to the United States a few days prior to the flotilla's arrival, the PM named Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
Netanyahu said that during “the seven” senior Israeli ministers meeting, 'We didn't discuss the details of the operation, except for the media impact,' Netanyahu said. He declined to answer several questions from panel members, saying he would only respond to them behind closed doors, Haaretz emphasiezed.
In Netanyahu’s speech before the Panel, he
The panel investigating the raid on a the Turkish Gaza flotilla was recently granted greater authority after Turkel told the government the committee could not do its job without expanded investigative powers.
However, following Turkel's demand to turn the panel into a full-fledged governmental inquiry committee with real teeth, the committee was granted the power to subpoena witnesses and documents, warn those who testify before it that the panel's findings could harm them, and hire outside experts in relevant fields.
The committee does not, however, have the authority to subpoena Israeli Army soldiers, despite the fact that Netanyahu said they were “in charge of the operation.”
