Israel Largely Vindicated by U.N. Marmara Report: Turkey Expels Israeli Ambassador, Threatens Legal Reprisals

At New York Times, "Report Finds Naval Blockade by Israel Legal but Faults Raid." The report was issued last month but its release delayed while Ankara and Jerusalem sought to patch up differences. Good luck with that, it turns out. See Israel Matzav, "Turkey expels Israeli envoy," and Jerusalem Post, "Turkey vows legal action against Israelis involved in raid":

Turkey said on Friday it will seek to prosecute all Israelis responsible for crimes committed during an Israeli raid on a ship bound for the Gaza Strip that killed nine Turks in May 2010.



"Turkey will take legal actions against the Israeli soldiers and all other officials responsible for the crimes committed and pursue the matter resolutely," Turkey's embassy in Washington said in a statement.



The threat follows a UN report that confirmed the legality of Israel's naval blockade of Gaza but said Israel had used unreasonable force in the raid. Both Turkey and Israel disputed some of the conclusions of the so-called Palmer Report.



The names of the Israeli marines involved in the raid have not been released, so only ranking commanders overseeing the operation could be identified if Turkey follows through with the legal action.



The full text of the UN report, which was leaked on Thursday, was delivered to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office on Friday and will soon be officially published, UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey told reporters.

Of course, Turkey would have acted precisely as Israel did if faced with the same situation. And click on that New York Times piece. Turkey's mad that Israel has the right under international law to impose a blockade.



ADDED: At Astute Bloggers, "IS ISLAMIST TURKEY ATTEMPTING TO INSTIGATE A NATO WAR AGAINST ISRAEL?‏"