No Love Boat

http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/PMSpeaks/speechmashat020610.htm


Statement by Prime Minister Netanyahu

“No Love Boat”

Once again, Israel faces hypocrisy and a biased rush to judgment. I’m afraid
this isn’t the first time.

Last year, Israel acted to stop Hamas from firing thousands of rockets into
Israel’s towns and cities. Hamas was firing on our civilians while hiding
behind civilians. And Israel went to unprecedented lengths to avoid
Palestinian civilian casualties. Yet it was Israel, and not Hamas, that was
accused by the UN of war crimes.

Now regrettably, the same thing appears to be happening now.

But here are the facts. Hamas is smuggling thousands of Iranian rockets,
missiles and other weaponry – smuggling it into Gaza in order to fire on
Israel’s cities. These missiles can reach Ashdod and Beer Sheva – these are
major Israeli cities. And I regret to say that some of them can reach now
Tel Aviv, and very soon, the outskirts of Jerusalem. From the information we
have, the planned shipments include weapons that can reach farther, even
farther and deeper into Israel.

Under international law, and under common sense and common decency, Israel
has every right to interdict this weaponry and to inspect the ships that
might be transporting them.

This is not a theoretical challenge or a theoretical threat. We have already
interdicted vessels bound for Hezbollah, and for Hamas from Iran, containing
hundreds of tons of weapons. In one ship, the Francop, we found hundreds of
tons of war materiel and weapons destined for Hezbollah. In another
celebrated case, the Karine A, dozens of tons of weapons were destined for
Hamas by Iran via a shipment to Gaza. Israel simply cannot permit the free
flow of weapons and war materials to Hamas from the sea.

I will go further than that. Israel cannot permit Iran to establish a
Mediterranean port a few dozen kilometers from Tel Aviv and from Jerusalem.
And I would go beyond that too. I say to the responsible leaders of all the
nations: The international community cannot afford an Iranian port in the
Mediterranean. Fifteen years ago I cautioned about an Iranian development
that has come to pass – people now recognize that danger. Today I warn of
this impending willingness to enable Iran to establish a naval port right
next to Israel, right next to Europe. The same countries that are
criticizing us today should know that they will be targeted tomorrow.

For this and for many other reasons, we have a right to inspect cargo
heading into Gaza.

And here’s our policy. It's very simple: Humanitarian and other goods can go
in and weapons and war materiel cannot.
And we do let civilian goods into Gaza. There is no humanitarian crisis in
Gaza. Each week, an average of ten thousand tons of goods enter Gaza.
There's no shortage of food. There's no shortage of medicine. There's no
shortage of other goods.

On this occasion too, we made several offers – offers to deliver the goods
on board the flotilla to Gaza after a security inspection. Egypt made
similar offers. And these offers were rejected time and again.

So our naval personnel had no choice but to board these vessels. Now, on
five of the vessels, our seamen were not met by any serious violence and as
a result, there were no serious injuries aboard those ships. But on the
largest ship, something very different happened.

Our naval personnel, just as they landed on the ship – you can see this in
the videos – the first soldier – they were met with a vicious mob. They were
stabbed, they were clubbed, they were fired upon. I talked to some of these
soldiers. One was shot in the stomach, one was shot in the knee. They were
going to be killed and they had to act in self-defense.

It is very clear to us that the attackers had prepared their violent action
in advance. They were members of an extremist group that has supported
international terrorist organizations and today support the terrorist
organization called Hamas. They brought with them in advance knives, steel
rods, other weapons. They chanted battle cries against the Jews. You can
hear this on the tapes that have been released.

This was not a love boat. This was a hate boat. These weren't pacifists.
These weren't peace activists. These were violent supporters of terrorism.

I think that the evidence that the lives of the Israeli seamen were in
danger is crystal clear. If you're a fair-minded observer and you look at
those videos, you know this simple truth. But I regret to say that for many
in the international community, no evidence is needed. Israel is guilty
until proven guilty.

Once again, Israel is told that it has a right to defend itself but is
condemned every time it exercises that right. Now you know that a right that
you cannot exercise is meaningless. And you know that the way we exercise
it – under these conditions of duress, under the rocketing of our cities,
under the impending killing of our soldiers – you know that we exercise it
in a way that is commensurate with any international standard. I have spoken
to leading leaders of the world, and I say the same thing today to the
international community: What would you do? How would you stop thousands of
rockets that are destined to attack your cities, your civilians, your
children? How would your soldiers behave under similar circumstances? I
think in your hearts, you all know the truth.

Israel regrets the loss of life. But we will never apologize for defending
ourselves. Israel has every right to prevent deadly weapons from entering
into hostile territory. And Israeli soldiers have every right to defend
their lives and their country.

This may sound like an impossible plea, or an impossible request, or an
impossible demand, but I make it anyway: Israel should not be held to a
double standard. The Jewish state has a right to defend itself just like any
other state.

Thank you.