[THS] Haaretz: In first address to nation, Netanyahu says...

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http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25602.htm


Israel's Moral Superiority?
Netanyahu: World 'Hypocritical' for Condemning Gaza Flotilla Raid

In first address to nation, Netanyahu says had Turkish-flagged ship breached
blockade, so could hundreds of vessels carrying weapons.

By Barak Ravid

June 02, 2010 "Haaretz" -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday
defended the Israel Navy's raid of a pro-Palestinian convoy en route to the Gaza Strip
earlier this week, in his first address to the nation regarding the botched operation
which left nine people dead and several more wounded.

Netanyahu accused international critics of "hypocrisy" and declared that Israel would
continue to blockade the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave, saying that to lift the
embargo would turn it into a base for Iranian missiles that would threaten both Israel
and Europe. 

"Iran is continuing to smuggle weapons into Gaza," said Netanyahu in a televised
address. "It is our obligation to prevent these weapons from being brought in by land
and sea. The previous government understood this and imposed a closure."

"The goal of the flotilla was to breach [the closure] and not to bring goods, as we
would have allowed them to do," said Netanyahu. "If the blockade had been broken,
dozens and hundreds more ships carrying weapons could have come."

Netanyahu, who canceled his trip to Washington and a meeting with President
Barack Obama due to the raid, declared that Israel had no opposition to seeing
humanitarian aid brought into the Gaza Strip.

But Hamas' growing armament was a cause for concern and a crucial reason to leave
the blockade in place, said the prime minister. Without a blockade and intense
inspection of every ship nearing the area, said Netanyahu, "Gaza will turn into an
Iranian port."

Nanyahu told his political-security cabinet during a special session on Tuesday that
international condemnation would not stop Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The raid of the Turkish-flagged ship awakened a storm of criticism among Israel's
friends and foes alike, leading many members of the United Nations Security Council
- including Britain - to call on Israel to lift its years-long siege of the Hamas-ruled
coastal territory.

At a special meeting convened in the wake of the raid, Netanyahu told his ministers
that the blockade was still necessary to prevent weapons from being smuggled into
the Gaza Strip.

"We know from the experience of Operation Cast Lead that the weapons entering
Gaza are being turned against our civilians," Netanyahu said, referring to Israel's
three-week offensive on the Gaza Strip that ended in January 2009.

"Gaza is a terror state funded by the Iranians, and therefore we must try to prevent
any weapons from being brought into Gaza by air, sea and land," he said.

Netanyahu acknowledged that militants were still capable of smuggling weapons in
via tunnels from Egypt, but emphasized that the large amounts of weapons that
could be brought by sea made the threat a completely different affair.

"On the Francop ship alone we confiscated some 200 tons of weapons being
smuggled to Hezbollah," the prime minister said, in reference to the Antiguan-
flagged ship Israel intercepted off the coast of Cyprus in November 2009.

"Opening a naval route to Gaza will present an enormous danger to the security of
our citizens," said Netanyahu. "Therefore, we will stand firm on our policy of a naval
blockade and of inspecting incoming ships."

"It's true that there is international pressure and criticism of this policy, but [the
world] must understand that it is crucial to preserving Israel's security and the right
of the State of Israel to defend itself."

Copyright Haaretz.com