http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=168349NEW YORK – The U.S. extracted concessions from Israel in exchange for American opposition to the establishment of a United Nations commission to investigate Israel's commando raid of a flotilla earlier this month that resulted in the deaths of nine violent activists, WND has learned.
Separately, an official from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office told WND the Obama administration pressed hard on Israel to ease a blockade on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
Israel says the blockade is intended to stop the shipment of weapons into Gaza.
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Earlier this week, Netanyahu's office released a statement that Israel's security cabinet decided to ease the Gaza blockade.
The White House yesterday called that decision "a step in the right direction."
Obama has called the three-year blockade unsustainable and urged Israel to scale it back dramatically.
In the place of a U.N. commission, which had been opposed by the U.S., Israel established its own commission of inquiry into the flotilla incident earlier this month in which violent activists engaged in confrontations with Israeli commandos who stormed the ship, resulting in the deaths of nine activists.
The Israeli commission consists of three Israelis and two foreign observers – David Trimble, a Northern Ireland politician and Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Canadian jurist Ken Watkin.
Israel had opposed a U.N. commission, believing such an investigative body would be partial.
Previous U.N. commissions investigating the Jewish state were seen as biased against Israel, including a probe earlier this year that claimed Israel carried out war crimes during its defensive war in Gaza in 2009 targeting the Hamas terror group.
Just yesterday, Israel issued an official complaint against the president of the U.N. Correspondents Association for deliberately barring Israeli officials from responding to the public screening of a documentary film on the events of the Gaza-bound flotilla. The documentary was filmed by one of the flotilla activists. Israel called the film one-sided.
An Israeli government official, meanwhile, told WND the Obama administration extracted concessions from the Netanyahu government in exchange for U.S. opposition to a U.N. investigation.
The official said the concessions regard an extended freeze on Jewish construction in the strategic West Bank and eastern Jerusalem as well as a resumption of talks aimed at creating a Palestinian state.
The developments came as Iran announced it will facilitate the sail of more flotillas to Gaza.
Also yesterday, a group of about 150 female activists reportedly prepared to leave Lebanon next week on board a ship called the Miriam. The group said they plan to arrive by sea in Gaza early this coming week.
Meanwhile, Israel's Foreign Ministry yesterday released a new video in which the leader of the Turkish group that sent the flotillas earlier this month is seen telling dozens of activists to throw Israeli commandos overboard if they attempt to board the ship.
"If they board our ship, we will throw them into the sea, Allah willing!" exclaimed Bulent Yildirim, the head of the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief, the Turkish pro-Palestinian group that sent an aid flotilla to Gaza last month.
Israel maintains a naval blockade on Hamas-controlled Gaza, fearing if it allows ships to reach the territory, Hamas will be able to transport weaponry for use against Israelis.
Israel and the international community numerous times have stopped ships loaded with weapons destined for Gaza.
Despite claims of activists, Israel does not block humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel allows a large number of trucks daily to enter Gaza with food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies. Israel transfers monthly into Gaza tens of millions of dollars worth of Israeli shekels to ensure the flow of cash in the territory.
Anti-Jewish battle cries
Activists on Yildrim's flotilla had shouted anti-Jewish battle cries and spoke of using "resistance" against Israel, with one participant stating she saw only two possible outcomes for the boat occupants – "either martyrdom or reaching Gaza."
The main flotilla ship was the MV Rachel Corrie, the namesake of a far-left activist from the International Solidarity Movement who died in 2003 while serving as a human shield to protect a terrorist.
An Al Jazeera news report one day before Israel's raid translated by Palestinian Media Watch documented men on the flotilla chanting, "[Remember] Khaibar, Khaibar, oh Jews! The army of Muhammad will return!"
The chant is often used at rallies for Hamas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Khaibar is the name of the last Jewish village defeated by Islam's prophet Muhammad in A.D. 628. The battle marked the end of the Jewish presence in Arabia.
Al-Jazeera also interviewed a woman on the flotilla who said the participants' goal was "one of two happy endings: either martyrdom or reaching Gaza."
WND reported the commander of the six-ship pro-Palestinian flotilla announced beforehand participants were planning to use "resistance" and declared the ship's activists wanted to die as "martyrs" more than they wanted to reach the Gaza Strip, according to Hamas television.
Topic: Did Obama deal blackmail Israel? (Read 2869 times)