Israel today agreed to co-operate with a UN investigation into the lethal attack on a flotilla of ships attempting to break the blockade of Gaza, saying it had nothing to hide.
Members of Binyamin Netanyahu’s inner cabinet, known as the group of seven, voted to take part in the inquiry after two months of sustained international pressure since the raid in international waters, when nine Turkish activists were killed.
In a statement, Netanyahu said: “Israel has nothing to hide. The opposite is true. It is in the national interest of the state of Israel to ensure that the factual truth of the overall flotilla events comes to light throughout the world and this is exactly the principle that we are advancing.”
The government had fiercely resisted demands for an independent international inquiry, establishing three internal investigations to head off pressure from the UN, Europe and Turkey.
The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, said Israel’s agreement to participate in the inquiry he is setting up was an “unprecedented development”.
It is the first time Israel has agreed to take part in a UN inquiry into actions involving the country’s military. Israel refused to co-operate with a previous UN inquiry, led by the South African judge Richard Goldstone, into its three-week war in Gaza in 2008-9. That inquiry’s findings were highly damning of Israeli actions.
The UN panel will comprise the former New Zealand prime minister Geoffrey Palmer, the outgoing Colombian president, Álvaro Uribe, plus a Turkish and an Israeli representative. It will begin work in just over a week and is expected to submit a preliminary progress report in mid-September. The panel will have access to the workings and findings of Israel’s internal inquiries.
A statement from Netanyahu’s office said the decision had been taken “in the wake of diplomatic contacts that have been held in recent weeks in order to ensure that this was indeed a panel with a balanced and fair written mandate”.
A separate statement from Ban said he had “engaged in intensive consultation with the leaders of Israel and Turkey on the setting up of the panel”.
Some analysts suggested there had been extensive behind-the-scenes discussion on the mandate of the UN panel, with considerable input from the Israeli government.
The aim, Ban said, was to give “recommendations for the prevention of similar incidents in the future”. He hoped the decision would “impact positively on the relationship between Turkey and Israel as well as the overall situation in the Middle East”.
Mark Regev, Netanyahu’s spokesman, said: “Ultimately we are sure the facts are on our side. We have no problem whatsoever with a credible, objective panel.”
The attack on the flotilla prompted international criticism of both the raid and Israel’s policy of blockading the Gaza Strip. Israel has since eased its embargo, although still refuses to allow full imports and exports and the free movement of people.
The episode brought relations between Israel and its staunchest ally in the region, Turkey, to breaking point, although efforts have since been made on both sides to repair the damage.
There has been a debate in Israel since the Goldstone report over whether the government was right to refuse co-operation. Critics of the decision said Israel would have had more influence on the report’s findings if it had participated. The report concluded that both the Israeli military and Hamas had committed war crimes during the three-week conflict.
“This decision is important,” said Gidi Grinstein, of the Reut Institute, a Tel Aviv-based thinktank. “Israeli policy for many years has been a ‘closed tent’ approach. Often those critical of Israeli policy have been marginalised. [This decision] reflects a deeper understanding of the requirement to engage with organisations that may be critical of Israeli policy.”
