ISRAEL’S refusal to apologise to Turkey for the raid on the Gaza peace flotilla is astonishing, because the UN report made public on Friday contains elements that Tel Aviv should have had the common sense to feel satisfied with. No wonder Turkey should have decided to expel Israel’s top diplomats for refusing to apologise to Ankara and suspend all military contacts. While the report, authored by a former New Zealand prime minister and an ex-president of Colombia, does hold Israel guilty of using “excessive force” it says its commandos faced “significant, organised and violent resistance” from some passengers, “requiring” the commandos to use force “for their protection”. What more could Israel expect from a UN report? The passengers were unarmed. But still the Israeli soldiers chose to shoot them “multiple times, including in the back or at close range”. This act of aggression resulting in the loss of innocent lives on the Mavi Marmara had not, according to the report, been “adequately accounted for” by Israel.

The voluminous report goes into the geopolitical part of the Middle East conflict when it speaks of “the real threats” which Israel faces from (Hamas) militants and for that reason justifies Israel’s blockade of Gaza. But that part of the 105-page report which sections of the media has carried does not say that the Israeli commando raid took place on the high seas. Turkey’s UN envoy rejected the report’s claim that the blockade was justified, pointing out that freedom of navigation on the high seas was part of international law, and a blockade required a broader convergence of views. The report incidentally asks the Likud government to express “regrets” not apologise. However, throughout its existence Israel has displayed utter contempt for all UN resolutions. For that reason the latest UN report will be a non-event for it.