Israeli Arab Knesset Member to join Gaza-bound flotilla

An Israeli Arab Knesset Member on Sunday said he would set sail with a flotilla that aims to challenge Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

MK Basel Ghattas of the Joint Arab List wrote a letter to both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, calling on them to allow the boats to dock at the Palestinian enclave.

"There is no reason we should be stopped from reaching Gaza and delivering the assistance that we are carrying with us,” Ghattas wrote. “I urge you to instruct Israel's security forces to stay away from the flotilla and to let it continue on its way.”

Ghattas is presently in Greece and plans on joining the three-vessel flotilla in the coming days.

"Taking over the ships and not allowing them to arrive at their destination will entangle Israel in another international crisis, the outcome of which will be the responsibility of you and your government,” he said, referring to the diplomatic crisis that erupted between Israel and Turkey following the 2010 Mavi Marmara raid.

Speaking to the Israeli news site Ynet, Ghattas said the aim of the flotilla was to "try to force international pressure on Israel to change its policies. If the current situation continues, the next outbreak of violence is only a matter of time."

Israel's Channel 2 News reported that the Israeli Navy had already been instructed to prevent the flotilla from docking.

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely meanwhile decried the flotilla as an attempt to "demonize" the Jewish state.

"The addition of an Israeli Arab MK to those who seek to fight against Israel attests to [Ghattas'] activity at the service of our enemies under the cloak of his diplomatic immunity," Hotovely said in a statement.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working day and night to prevent the flotilla's arrival in Israel's territorial waters," she added.

The Marianne of Gothenburg, a vessel from Sweden, is the first boat of the so-called Freedom Flotilla III to set sail and will aim to deliver medical equipment and solar cell panels for use in Gaza, according to a statement by the Ship to Gaza campaign.

The boat traveled from Sweden through the waters of Norway, Germany, France, Spain and Portugal before reaching Messina, Italy, last week.

“The short stop in Messina was an intensive one with meetings with peace activists and a press conference at the city hall,” the group noted on their website.

The boat was expected to arrive in Greece this week, before attempting to breach the blockade and reach Gaza.

In May 2010 nine Turkish citizens were killed after Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara, part of a flotilla that was attempting to reach Gaza. An Israeli inquiry found that the soldiers opened fire after the activists aboard the ship attempted to attack them with knives and metal rods.

Israel imposed its blockade on Gaza in 2006 after militants there seized an Israeli soldier, who was eventually freed in 2011 in a trade for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Cairo has also maintained a blockade on the Strip.

The blockade was strengthened in 2007, when the Islamist Hamas movement took control of Gaza, then eased somewhat following an international outcry over the killing of the Turkish activists.

A Turkish court in May ordered the arrest of four former Israeli military chiefs over the raid as part of an ongoing trial in absentia brought by aid group IHH and the victims' families in 2012.

The assault sparked widespread condemnation and provoked a major diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

Ankara expelled the Israeli ambassador, demanded a formal apology and compensation and an end to the blockade on the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas.

An Israeli probe found that the raid did not violate international law, in a conclusion which Turkey said lacked credibility.