Yediot Aharonot says that attempts to liken the Mavi Marmara to the Exodus is based on "playing with the facts and ignoring the facts," but adds that "Historical accuracy has never bothered inflammatory demagogues from making their claims, and certainly will not do so now. But such claims are, and will remain, contrary to any rational public discussion."
Ma’ariv complains that "Instead of using his international stature to advance Israel’s public diplomacy efforts on the flotilla issue, President Shimon Peres has left for a chilly business trip to South Korea," and recalls that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled "a no less important meeting with US President Barack Obama," in order to deal with the flotilla crisis.
Yisrael Hayom says that IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi’s decision to appoint Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Giora Eiland to chair an IDF investigation "into the professional aspects of the Marmara operation is timely…but will do nothing to lessen the international pressure." The author commends the putative choice of former Supreme Court President Meir Shamgar to chair a commission of Israeli experts to investigate – inter alia – the international legal aspects of the action and calls on the Government to ask "a serious and responsible" Turk to serve as one of the commission’s foreign observers.
The Jerusalem Post discusses the spate of concerts cancelled by international artists that were due to be held here this summer, resulting from pressure by anti-Israel activists in the aftermath of the Marmara operation, and in light of the reaction of several music critics who adopted "a form of cognitive dissonance that can be boiled down to: ‘Who needs them anyway? We have our own bands,’” and states that "The state of Israel was not and is not supposed to be a bunker, and it must not fall prey to the defeatist attitude that the world is out to get us and we had better raise the drawbridge." The editor calls on Israel to continue its quest for normalized relations, to insist on the maintenance of the widest possible channels of communication with the rest of the world, and for an open exchange of culture and commerce and all other aspects of interaction, as this is central to defeating the efforts of those who seek to peddle false stereotypes about Israel.
Haaretz calls on the government to "Stop avoiding the investigation," and states that "The flotilla affair still requires a thorough examination because the killing of Turkish civilians caused Israel tremendous damage abroad."
[Amos Carmel, Yehuda Sharoni and Dan Margalit wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Ma’ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]
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