A FIASCO...NOT AN "INCIDENT"

Most of us recognize that Israel's boarding of the Hamas flotilla, accompanied as it was by loss of life was a wholly avoidable public relations disaster for the State of Israel. To characterize it as nothing more than an "incident" (JFNA's spin) in a sea of incidents rather than the fiasco that it was insults the intelligence. Like many of you, the parallels to the British attack on the Jews of the Exodus in 1947 are both obvious and painful and suggest that our brothers and sisters in Israel, so sensitive as they are to world opinion (while being dismissive of it) have learned far too little from our People's history when writing their own.

Sure, we'll argue for all the right reasons that Israel was in the right in boarding these ships when their leaders refused to turn into Ashdod to have the contents examined. We'll offer the rationale of a nation under constant threat. We'll be ignored and overwhelmed drowned out by a sea of negative publicity.

As Max Boot wrote in The Wall Street Journal: "Israel's actions in boarding the flotilla of ships bound for Gaza were entirely justified and perhaps even unavoidable. Unfortunately they turned into a tactical and strategic fiasco that does further damage to the Jewish State's battered international reputation." The fact remains that Turkey, once a key Israeli ally, has become a mouthpiece for Iran and terrorists -- yet, that government was able to organize the flotilla (the intent of which was clearly designed to embarrass Israel (and, to that extent, was successful beyond Erdogan's dreams) and further isolate our beloved Israel from those who support it.


If Israel had a credible Foreign Minister and a viable foreign policy, wouldn't logic have dictated that Israel would have organized sufficient pressure from friendly nations to cause it to reconsider its support of the flotilla (and, now, more "freedom boats") before it proceeded toward Gaza? Why was Israel unable to articulate in a coherent and planful manner the reasons it would have to turn the flotilla toward Ashdod to examine its cargo (we all remember, perhaps the world would have remembered the ship stocked by Iran with bombs and rockets destined for Hamas that Israel captured just a few years ago) so as to influence public opinion before the fiasco?

The Government of Israel should not have to apologize for doing the right thing, the lawful thing. It should understand, however, that doing the right thing in the wrong way produces only disasters...or fiascos....and, once again, it has.

Rwexler