No truth in 'Der Spiegel' report on flotilla, deputy FM asserts.
By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMANDanny Ayalon JPost interview 311(photo credit: Benjamin Spier)
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon vigorously denied a report in the German newspaper Der Spiegel on Tuesday in which he was quoted as saying that the IDF's raid on the Gaza flotilla last week was a mistake.The report said that Ayalon was beginning to realize that Israel had walked into a trapset by the organizers of the flotilla. It suggested that German Prime Minister AngelaMerkel's criticism had made him reconsider the raid.RELATED:Opinion: PR battle is a marathon, not a sprintMKs won't call for state inquiry into Gaza flotillaOpinion: Israel disarmed"It played into Hamas's hands," he said in an interview at Tel Aviv's Dan Hotel, accordingto the report. "Perhaps it was a mistake to storm the ships."Ayalon was also quoted as saying that there were also "many people with good intentions"on board the ships and that Israel would not block an investigation of the incidentsunder international observation.People close to Ayalon who were present at the interview said they did not remember himsaying that the raid was a mistake. His spokesman Ashley Perry said he heard Ayalon givedozens of interviews in the aftermath of the flotilla incident and that he never saidanything close to what Der Spiegel suggested."He was misunderstood, misquoted, or mistranslated," Perry said. "It is the firm view ofthe deputy foreign minister that we were left with no choice but to take the action that we did. He fully supports the decision that was made to take the action that was taken to prevent the flotilla from reaching Gaza and opening a sea channel for arms smuggling and terror."
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