8/7/2019 flotilla notes

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JERUSALEM - Israel says it will pull out of an inquiry into a bloody raid on a Turkish flotilla heading for Gaza, after theU.N. chief said there is no agreement to keep Israeli soldiers from testifying.

A statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office late Monday said, "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes itabsolutely clear that Israel will not co-operate with and will not take part in any panel that seeks to interrogate Israelisoldiers."

This followed an answer by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at a news conference to question about whether hadagreed to exempt Israeli soldiers from questioning before the panel.

"No, there was no such agreement behind the scenes," Ban said.

JERUSALEM | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday told an Israeli

commission examining the deadly flotilla raid in late May that Israel had acted in

accordance with international law, but he appeared to shift at least some of theresponsibility for the bloody episode to the Turkish government and his own defense

minister, Ehud Barak.

Hours later, however, in the face of domestic criticism over what was interpreted as an

evasion of responsibility, Netanyahu made a statement clarifying that as prime minister,the "overall responsibility" lay with him.

Netanyahu was the first to testify before the government-appointed commission, which is

led by a retired Israeli Supreme Court judge, Jacob Turkel, and includes two foreign

observers, Lord Trimble from Northern Ireland and a retired Canadian brigadier general,Ken Watkin, both of whom were present Monday.

The Turkel commission will submit reports for review by an international panelestablished last week by the U.N. secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon.

Eight Turks and an American-Turkish youth were killed aboard a Turkish ship, the MaviMarmara, during violent clashes with Israeli naval commandos who raided the vessel,

part of a six-vessel flotilla, on May 31. The raid, in international waters, was intended to

stop the flotilla from its stated goal of breaching Israel's naval blockade of Gaza, the

Palestinian coastal enclave controlled by the Islamic militant group Hamas.

The raid stirred intense international condemnation of Israel and its blockade of Gaza and

severely damaged Israel's relationship with Turkey, a once-close regional ally. Turkey

had demanded an independent, international inquiry, and Ban said that he hoped theformation of the United Nations panel, with Turkish and Israeli participation, might

"impact positively" on relations between the countries.

This story appeared in print on page A4