“Relations with Turkey are important,” IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi told the Knesset Tuesday, adding that “what happens in Turkey is not always done with the agreement of the Turkish military” -- a statement that could be understood as a hint that the Turkish military was not in favor of the Gaza flotilla.
"Relations with the Turkish army are important and they need to be preserved,” he said, in an appearance before the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. “I am personally in touch with the Turkish Chief of Staff and we spoke after the flotilla also.”
"Every effort must be made to prevent flotillas from setting sail,” the army chief said. “Their purpose is to embarrass Israel. Cyprus did not allow the flotillas to set sail from its territory. We announced that we would take action against ships that would break the blockade. With some ships that worked: we told them to either turn around or reach Ashdod.”
A Lebanese flotilla with women and parliamentarians is still in the process of organizing, Ashkenazi said. “The organizer of the flotilla is having a hard time implementing what he wanted to do but slowly they are organizing.” Israel and the IDF are try to prevent the flotilla from setting sail but “this does not always work,” he explained. “We told the Lebanese government that it would bear responsibility for the flotilla and its results, whatever they may be. That is why the Lebanese government is steering clear [of the flotilla] and sending the flotilla to Cyprus.”
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's decision to ease the Gaza closure “gives greater legitimacy to our activity and less legitimacy to the flotillas,” he observed.
Ashkenazi also addressed the failure of the gas mask distribution project. “We do not have enough masks for the entire state of Israel,” he said. “This stems from decisions made by the political tier. There is a gap of several billions [of shekels].” When the budget for masks is enlarged, the distribution will be stepped up, he added.