The lethal mishandling of Israel\u2019s attack on a ship carrying humanitarian supplies that was trying to break the blockade of Gaza was bound to provoke outrage\u201d\u201dand rightly so. The circumstances of the raid are murky and may well remain that way despite an inquiry…But the impression received yet again by the watching world is that Israel resorts to violence too readily. More worryingly for Israel, the episode is accelerating a slide towards its own isolation. Once admired as a plucky David facing down an array of Arab Goliaths, Israel is now seen as the clumsy bully on the block.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s desire to stop the flotilla reaching Gaza was understandable, given its determination to maintain the blockade. Yet the Israelis also had a responsibility to conduct the operation safely. The campaigners knew that either way they would win. If they had got through, it would have been a triumphant breaching of the blockade. If forcibly stopped, with their cargo of medical equipment and humanitarian aid, they would be portrayed as victims\u201d\u201deven if some, as the Israelis contend, brought clubs, knives and poles. As it was, disastrous planning by Israel\u2019s soldiers led to a needless loss of life.<\/p>\n
For anyone who cares about Israel, this tragedy should be the starting point for deeper questions\u201d\u201dabout the blockade, about the Jewish state\u2019s increasing loneliness and the route to peace. A policy of trying to imprison the Palestinians has left their jailer strangely besieged.<\/p>\n