Israeli defence minister takes blame for flotilla raid

Jerusalem: Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak told a government-appointed panel Tuesday that he took responsibility for the May 31 army raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla that left nine activists dead.

"I carry overall responsibility for everything that took place in the systems under my command. I carry responsibility for the orders given on the political level," Barak said before the five members of the Turkel Commission probing the operation and two foreign observers.

Barak`s remarks were in accord with those of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said in his testimony a day earlier that due to a trip to Washington to meet with US President Barack Obama, he had left the defence echelon headed by Barak to deal with the operational aspects of the raid on the flotilla, Xinhua reported.

Netanyahu later in the day backtracked from his statement, and said that he took overall responsibility for the events surrounding the flotilla raid.

However, Barak`s comments returned some political fire at Netanyahu. "The decision to stop the flotilla was made after a thorough examination of the options available by the prime minister and the `forum of seven`," Barak told the panel.

"The choice was not between good and bad, but between two bad options," Barak said in his testimony.

"Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi stressed that it would not be simple but that we would do it," Barak said of the discussion on possible tactics by the internal cabinet ministers` forum.

"The politicians determined the `what` and the IDF worked out the `how,` and the IDF carried out the operation," Barak said.

In an opening comment, panel chief retired Israeli Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel chided Barak about not having enough time to read documents the committee received from the defence ministry only the night before.

Barak, in closing remarks in response to a question posed of whether the IDF was able to conduct an adequate internal investigation according to international norms, answered in the positive.

However, he added that it would be unreasonable to demand that soldiers engaged in a split-second military operation be forced to constantly consider the legal ramifications of every step of their actions while in the line of fire.

Israel threatened Monday that it would not cooperate with a UN investigation of the flotilla events, set to begin Tuesday.

"We said very clearly, Israel will not cooperate with or participate in any panel that demands to investigate IDF personnel," Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli prime minister`s office, told Xinhua Tuesday.

The decision comes over a statement by UN chief Ban Ki-moon a day earlier denying there was any behind-the-scenes agreement shielding Israeli soldiers or officers involved in the operation from questioning.

"This is a basic issue of independence and sovereignty," Regev said.