PM : Flotilla raid was in self defense
By JPOST.COM STAFF, ASSOCIATED PRESS
05/31/2010 20:40
Netanyahu cuts Canada visit short, cancels White House meeting.
Binyamin Netanyahu and Stephen Harper Photo: Courtesy
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that
commandos who raided the Gaza-bound aid flotillas, killing nine and
injuring dozens of others, were under attack and acting in self defense.
Netanyahu
spoke after a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
earlier on Monday.
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Israel wanted to check the cargo to ensure it contained no weapons,
Netanyahu said.
He said this was done successfully with five ships, but the sixth did
not cooperate.
Netanyahu said hundreds of people on board that ship beat, clubbed and
stabbed soldiers, and there was a report of gunfire. He asserted that
forced soldiers to attack.PM cancels White
House visits, calls Obama on the phone
The
prime minster cut short his visit in Canada Monday and canceled a visit
planned Tuesday with US President Barack Obama in Washington so that
he could return home.
Netanyahu
spoke with Obama over the phone, and postpone their
impending meeting to a later date.
The leaders agreed that their
professional teams would be in close contact regarding the latest events
and developments in the region.
White
House: We 'deeply regret the loss of
life'
In
response to Monday's raids, the White House
issued a cautious
reaction, saying "The United States deeply regrets the loss of life and
injuries sustained, and is currently working to understand the
circumstances surrounding this tragedy."
Last
week
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel,
in the country to celebrate the bar
mitzvas of his son and nephew, delivered the invitation during a
meeting with the prime minister in his office in Jerusalem.
Obama
“has asked me to extend an invitation to you to come visit him at the
White House for a work meeting to discuss both our shared security
interests as well as our close cooperation in seeking peace between
Israel and its neighbors,” Emanuel told Netanyahu.
He made sure
to mention his warm feelings for the country and its people during a
visit, which he described as “heartfelt.”