❊ Why Is Israel So Worked Up About The Lebanese Flotilla?

Israel is loudly complaining about the Lebanese flotilla. What does it have in store for it?

For a boat trip that many of us in Lebanon see as a farce, it’s ruffling quite a few feathers in Israel. To listen to Israeli officials threaten and complain to the United Nations, you’d think we’re sending an armada of destroyers and aircraft carriers, not a clunky ship filled with women and nuns that may not even reach its destination.

The Israeli ambassador to the UN Gabriela Shalev launched an official complaint in which she said that the flotilla “may be affiliated with Hezbollah”. Since half the Lebanese are sympathetic to Hezbollah, pretty much everything in Lebanon can be described as “affiliated with Hezbollah”, and yet she insists:

Israel reserves its right under international law to use all necessary means to prevent these ships from violating the aforementioned naval blockade,

Which is diplomatic speak for the thunderous warnings of the Minister of Defense Ehud Barak before her:

[The Marriam] has nothing to do with humanitarian aid and is an act of hostile provocation, with all it entails […] This act is meant to assist a terror group that wants nothing but to hurt and murder Israeli citizens

Big words eh? Why all the huffing and puffing?

It could perhaps be a way to intimidate the Lebanese government into reigning in the flotilla before it leaves (that didn’t work). But it could also be Israel’s way of learning the lessons of the Turkish freedom flotilla. After that incident, Israel tried to paint the turks as terrorists after the fact, but that was too late to undo the PR damage.

In other words, Israel could have in store a plan to violently stop the Marriam, but to prevent an international outcry when people die, it’s trying to tell us in advance that the ship is “affiliated with Hezbollah”.

Blame Cyprus

There’s still a way out for all parties. Lebanese Minister Ghazi Aridi hinted at it today:

Aridi said there was no guarantee the ship would set off on Sunday as Cyprus had not yet granted authorization for the Mariam to dock or to depart for Gaza.The Cyprus government has said it was keeping in place a ban on the sailing of ships from the island to the Gaza Strip.

The question is: What will it take for the flotilla’s organizers to finally quit this silly enterprise and blame Cyprus?

— 
Note: Posts with titles starting with an ❊ (asterisk) are my opinion posts. I used this system to separate long posts from quick links and comments.