Operation Mini Cast Lead - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
Fiasco on the high seas - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
"Even a child would have seen the imbalance in the risk-threat assessment in overpowering the flotilla ships. Any smart kid would understand that you don't sacrifice what is important for what is not."
"Why did we walk into this trap, which we managed to avoid in all the years of the second intifada, with our eyes open?"
Seven idiots in the cabinet - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
" Elite units are supposed to know how to take over a ship without sinking the state, how to overcome passengers wielding clubs and knives without sowing death, how to keep two pistols and a rifle from being wrested from them.
But a physical confrontation should never have been allowed to develop to begin with. If this was indeed a "political/media provocation," we should never have let ourselves become entangled in it. "
The price of flawed policy - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
"Israel let its policy of maintaining the siege on Gaza become an existential matter. This policy boomeranged and cost Israel its international legitimacy.
The decision makers' negligence is threatening the security of Israelis, and Israel's global status."
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/straight-into-the-trap-1.293421
"No matter how much effort it invests, Israel will never be able to explain to the world how nine civilians were killed, without a single death on our side - and the dead are citizens of the country that was until recently our best friend in the region. "
"Israeli spokesmen repeatedly stressed yesterday that the demonstrators went into a violent frenzy that endangered the soldiers' lives. This argument, however, should not detract attention from the question of why these things happened, and whether an alternative had been possible. Ultimately, Israel walked straight into the trap that the flotilla organizers set, and has found itself in a massive diplomatic mess. It remains unclear what Israel should do about the next aid ship, which is due to set sail for Gaza today or tomorrow. "
"If Israel's goal was to "contain" the flotilla and prevent it from triggering a major crisis, we failed utterly and completely"
"The siege has had limited success at best. Hamas may be fairly isolated, but the weapon smuggling has continued, and the blockade has done nothing to advance Shalit's cause. "
"The critical juncture may actually have been earlier: changing the fruitless siege policy, or taking less blatant steps against the flotilla, such as damaging their engines or physically blocking their path, without sending combat soldiers to board them. "
"The question is why the soldiers were put into this situation in the first place. "
"The commandos were not prepared to confront such a large, violent crowd. "
"Whatever way one looks at it, the end result is bad, especially for Israel."