Former Israeli Navy chief: Handling of Gaza flotilla incident was a 'diplomatic failure'
The Gaza Flotilla was "a completely unnecessary event that should have ended as a diplomatic event," the former Navy commander said.
The Madleen Gaza Freedom Flotilla was "a completely unnecessary event that should have ended as a diplomatic event," former Navy Commander Major General (res.) Eliezer "Chiny" Marom said on Monday during an interview.
"It's not a military event; it's entirely a diplomatic event. Ultimately, we failed in this regard, and the ship set out from the shores of Sicily and arrived here. Therefore, the last barrier before breaking the maritime security blockade was carried out by the Navy," Marom said.
"The whole event is entirely civilian; it's not a military event," he continued. "We have dealt with many such events - some of which you may not even know about, as they never made headlines over the years - and we failed with this one. After the Mavi Marmara incident in 2011, a flotilla of 20 ships was organized; we acted diplomatically and legally in various ways, and ultimately, not a single one reached the shores of Israel."
"We imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip. That blockade was imposed in December 2009, if I'm not mistaken. It's a blockade recognized by the whole world, and it means something very simple - a country has a right to defend itself; it imposes a blockade, and it must be enforced equally on everyone," Marom said.
"If you allow one ship in, then everyone can enter. Meaning, if someone says, "Let's allow this ship to enter," then there's no longer a blockade. To stop that ship, you need the blockade itself. If you cancel that blockade, within three months Iranian ships will be in Gaza - and you don't want that to happen," he added.
Regarding the Madleen incident, "I don't think the world is too excited about this," Maron said. "There have already been flotillas since the Marmara incident, and we handled them just fine. The Navy knows how to learn lessons and take things seriously. I want to commend the fighters who did an outstanding job."
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