Davutoglu welcomes Eiland report, but will push for int'l probe.
By JPOST.COM STAFFaluf giora eiland 311(photo credit: Courtesy)
Turkey will continue to push for an international inquiry into Israel's May 31 raid on the Gaza-bound aid ship the Mavi Marmara, said the country's foreign minister on Tuesday in response to the release of the Eiland Committee's findings Monday.The internal military probe of the raid, carried out by a committee headed by Maj.-Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland, concluded that flawed intelligence-gathering and planning led to the botched operation.RELATED:Critical flotilla report expectedTurkey, PA slam flotilla c'teeAhmet Davutoglu told reporters Tuesday that he welcomed the fact that the report acknowledged that "mistakes" were made. However, he said the Israeli commandos had committed "a crime" and said Turkey wants an international probe.The Eiland committee presented its findings Monday in a 100-page report to the IDF General Staff in which Eiland listed a number of “mistakes” that had been made in the planning stage of the operation.Eiland, a former head of the IDF’s Planning Division and the National Security Council, said that he did not find any negligence in the planning and implementation of the operation. He also made it clear that there was a difference between “operational failures” and “operational mistakes” and that he had only found mistakes, not failures.“There were mistakes, also on the high military levels, but happily, they were not the result of negligence,” Eiland said.Eiland criticized the navy for not preparing a backup plan – or “Plan B,” as he called it – for the operation, saying the navy should have reconsidered rappelling commandos onto the Mavi Marmara’s upper deck after noticing from sea and air that there were several dozen activists on board prepared to resist violently.
