Netanyahu Salutes Commandos who Raided Gaza Flotilla
Saying "I salute you," "Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the headquarters on Tuesday of "Israeli" naval commandos who martyred nine pro-Palestinian Turks aboard a Gaza-bound aid ship in May, reported "Israeli" daily Haaretz.
Netanyahu's tour of the top-security Shayetet 13 base on the coast near Haifa was a show of defiance against international censure of the raid on the converted cruise liner Mavi Marmara.
It followed testimony on Sunday from "Israel's" military chief, who told a state-appointed inquest into the operation that the commandos had come under pistol, knife and cudgel attacks while boarding and fired 308 live bullets in response.
Netanyahu said the May 31 raid on the Turkish-flagged vessel, one of six ships trying to run "Israel's" naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, had been "crucial, essential, important and legal".
"Gaza has turned into an Iranian terror base," he said in a speech to around 200 members of the unit. He heaped praise on the commandos, saying they had acted "courageously, morally and with restraint".
"You acted against those who came to kill you and tried to kill you," said Netanyahu. "There is no one better than you. I salute you." He then met some of the commandos who took part in the raid, shaking their hands on a prow-shaped veranda overlooking the craggy bay at their Atlit base.
The raid on the Mavi Marmara that took place in the international waters led to the killing of 9 Turkish activists and the injury of many, of whom are all peaceful activists trying to deliver goods and medicine to the besieged Gazans in the enclave.
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