Mavi Marmara report casts doubts on Iran

JERUSALEM

Israeli PM Netanyahu slammed over his handling the Mavi Marmara raid. AFP photo

A report that slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the 2010 flotilla raid has raised fears over how a strike on Iran would be managed, Israeli press reports said yesterday.

Most commentators heaped scathing criticism on Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak for their handling of the raid on the Mavi Marmara in which nine Turkish nationals were killed.

Most were quick to point out the deeply-flawed decision-making process exposed in the report raised serious questions about Netanyahu and Barak’s ability to make sound decisions on crucial issues like a strike on Iran’s nuclear program. “The state comptroller issued a charge sheet,” wrote Shimon Shiffer in the Yediot Aharonot newspaper, according to Agence France-Presse. “It cries out to the prime minister’s bureau that if this is how you manage affairs in an uncomplicated matter like how to stop the Turkish flotilla, who will believe that you will handle things differently while preparing to attack nuclear facilities in Iran?” Lindenstrauss said there were “significant shortcomings” in the decision-making process which was led by Netanyahu, and accused the premier of failing to hold any structured, formal discussions.

Amos Harel, defense correspondent for the Haaretz newspaper, said the flawed procedures laid out in the report set “a worrisome precedent” regarding Iran. “If the prime minister’s office is run as indicated in the comptroller’s reports, why should we believe that the situation is necessarily any different when it comes to handling nuclear sites?”