A Perilous Price To Pay

S

omething is terribly amiss with
the political power structure and
its leaders in Israel.
A country which once was able to take
pride in its execution of political strategy
and military operations now seems to
have lost its edge — something it can ill
afford.
First came the assassination of
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a major figure
in Izz el-Deen-al-Qassam brigades, the
military wing of Hamas, in Dubai. Israeli
agents were videotaped wearing fake
beards by a hotel video camera and were
caught using forged British and Australian
passports, making the entire operation
appear extremely amateurish.
Next came the announcement that Israel
would build 1,600 additional housing
units during a visit by U.S. Vice President
Joe Biden. Talk about bad timing.
Now, the attack on the Gaza flotilla: No
cache of arms was found nor were pas-
sengers defined as "terrorists" or former
political prisoners attempting to return to
Gaza.
All the explanations, unfortunately, were
weak and failed to explain the operation's
major strategic or tactical objective. The
entire operation reeked of inadequate
planning and poor execution, which is not
only troubling, but also gives the world,
that doesn't need excuses to attack Israel,

attack was what might be
valuable credibility as it — once
described as "restrained"
more — censures Israel.
although it voted for a U.N.
So what did this military
Security Council resolution
operation achieve?
condemning the act. But the
• It called attention to the
administration's somewhat
blockade, which was basically out
tepid response may change as
of the headlines and a non-issue.
world pressure mounts and
• The Palestinians will chal-
given President Obama's ten-
lenge the blockade again to
dency to lean — sometimes
embarrass Israel and we can be
Berl Falbaum
heavily — toward the Arab
assured of wide coverage by the
Corn munity
point of view.
news media. Other enemies of
V iew
Granting that the blockade
Israel may join in these challeng-
was needed, even its sup-
es by having their ships attempt
porters have questioned the
to penetrate the blockade.
operation and some, within Israel, have
• The wedge between Israel and Turkey,
the only Muslim country which has (had?) called for resignations, particularly that of
Defense Minister Ehud Barak. In public
friendly political relationships with the
opinion polls, two thirds of Israelis believe
Jewish state and which backed the flotilla,
the
operation was mishandled.
has been widened. Indeed, this comes on
In
defense of the operation, Israel's
the heels of Israeli Deputy Minister David
politicians
and a variety of writers, stated
Ayalon trying to embarrass the Turkish
that
the
flotilla
was an attempt to embar-
Ambassador to Israel, Oguz Celikkol, by
rass
Israel
and
create
a world outcry. One
refusing to shake his hand, having him
writer
stated
they
succeeded
"beyond their
sit on a low chair and not displaying the
wildest
dreams."
Turkish flag in the meeting room.
Then why hand them such an oppor-
• It put the blight of the Palestinians and
tunity
in the absence of any evidence
their needs in Gaza back in the headlines
of
weapons
or smuggling of terrorists
after the issue had been on the backburner.
into
Gaza?
Why
let Israel be exploited? It
And the operation further strains
tsores (worries).
already
has
enough
the relationship between Israel and the
If Israel did warn the flotilla not to
Obama administration. Surprisingly,
attempt breaking the blockade, why did
the administration's first reaction to the

it not announce the planned confronta-
tion to the world? Why didn't it make an
"exception" by accompanying the flotilla
to shore, let it unload under Israel's watch-
fill eye and then make public what it had
done on a "one time basis only"? There
were news reports that, indeed, Israel had
let other ships through the blockade.
Another columnist wrote that if Israel
had permitted the ships to proceed, maybe
"next time" such ships might transport
weapons. Next time? Where was the intel-
ligence for this time? Given Israel's delicate
political position in the world, it can't
undertake deadly and politically embar-
rassing operations to avoid what "may
happen" some other time.
So many questions and so few — con-
vincing — answers.
Israel will pay a very steep price for this
operation, which can only be described as
botched — militarily and politically.
It is hard to believe this is the same
Israel that has in its legacy such opera-
tions as: The capture of Eichmann in
Argentina, Entebbe, the airlift of Jews out
of Ethiopia, the destruction of Iraq's nucle-
ar capabilities and the Six-Day War. I.

Berl Falbaum is a Farmington Hills public rela-

tions executive, author and a former political

reporter. He teaches journalism part-time at

Wayne State University, Detroit.

State Terrorism Or State Failure?

East Lansing

T

he outrage around the world on
May 31 was that Israel, which
sent naval commandos to inter-
cept the Gaza flotilla, was guilty of state
terrorism or state piracy. Israeli naval
special forces came aboard one of the
ships, a Turkish vessel called the Mavi
Marmara, from boats and helicopters in
the pre-dawn dark, encountered violent
resistance from the activists, and fired
on them. Nine activists are reported dead
and scores were wounded.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan quickly condemned Israel for
state terrorism. French Prime Minister
Nicholas Sarkozy condemned the use
of disproportionate force. The United
Nations Security Council discussed
its reaction to the events. Israel Prime
Minister Benyamin Netanyahu canceled
a White House meeting to return to deal
with the escalating diplomatic crisis.

32

June 10 • 2010

Actually, Israel was within
its legal rights to intercept the
Gaza flotilla in international
waters and enforce its legal
embargo on an enemy state,
Hamas-run Gaza. However,
Israel was guilty of state fail-
ure in permitting an alleged
humanitarian aid mission to
be turned by pro-Palestinian
activists into an international
cause celebre.
It is not as if events like
these are absent from Israel's
own history. The clear strat-
egy of those who built the Israeli state
was to use humanitarian ships on the
high seas bringing contraband human
cargo to Palestine to stir world sympathy
for the survivors of Nazi atrocities and
the Zionist cause. Those on the famous
Exodus to Palestine fought with fists
and canned goods against heavily armed
British soldiers who boarded the boat

and subdued them and returned
them to camps in Europe.
On the question of interna-
tional law, it is the case that a
state can visit, restrain, even
attack, a neutral vessel in inter-
national waters where there is
a declared legal blockade and
there is clear evidence of intent
to breach the blockade, as there
was in this instance.
On the question of propor-
tionate force, things are murkier.
It is not yet known fully how the
Israeli commandos prepared
for the encounter, what their orders were,
whether they were equipped appropri-
ately, or what open-fire regulations were
given. But a video released by Israel
clearly showed commandos landing from
helicopters being mobbed and attacked
on the ship deck by activists brandishing
metal poles and chairs, and at least one
soldier was thrown over the deck barrier

to the level below. Another video showed
activists massed in orange life jackets
with metal bars awaiting the comman-
dos. Additional reports indicate two com-
mandos had their small arms weapons
grabbed, which led to the order to open
fire.
Neither international law nor the doc-
trine of proportionate force, however, is
what is most important here. The real
issue is what the pro-Israeli philoso-
pher Bernard Henri-Levi, speaking at
the French embassy in Israel, identified
clearly — that "in the war of images, in
the war of pictures and propaganda,"
Israel is "just losing this war."A besieged
Israel, under pressure on several fronts
connected with the peace process, with
regional nuclear security strategy, and
concerning relations with Turkey, the
European Union, and the United States,
failed again.

Terrorism on

page 33

