Gilad Atzmon: Bravery and Morality in Israel

Update on the flotilla enquiry developments

Israel's Defense Force's Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi testified today before the Israeli internal probe into Israel's deadly raid on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla. He defended the military from politicians' accusations that it botched the operation.

"The commandos exhibited calm, bravery and morality… Their actions were proportionate and correct", Ashkenazi told the inquiry.

Let’s, once again, watch the video of Israeli soldiers executing a peace activist on the Mavi Marmara so we know what the words "bravery, morality, proportionate and correct" stand for in the Jewish State's lexicon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi6c10ntFZk

Ashkenazi said that the outcome of the May 31st raid, which left nine pro-Palestinian activists dead, “was impossible to predict.”

Ashkenazi is correct, it could as well have been twenty, one hundred or just six. When you unleash your top military commandos armed to their teeth against a peaceful humanitarian aid mission it is indeed impossible to predict the exact scale of the massacre ahead.

"From the moment the operation began, it was clear that the circumstances were unprecedented." And yet, neither Chief of Staff Ashkenazi nor the Israeli government called off the operation. They must have thought that a massacre in international waters would serve the Israeli cause.

In the meantime it seems as if Israeli leaders put the blame on each other. In testimony on Tuesday, Defence Minister Barak heaped blame on the IDF, telling the inquiry that the “failure of the operation did not stem from the decision to carry it out but from its planning and implementation by the military.”
On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also implied that the IDF, and not the politicians, had been responsible for the outcome.

The implications of it all are pretty simple. Being dumped by Israeli politicians, the IDF will be reluctant to follow Israeli government policies. In such circumstances Israel won’t be able to maintain the occupation and oppression of the Palestinian population for much longer. Israel is obviously on its way out.