Israeli Prime Minister On Gaza-Bound Flotilla: “This Was Not A Love Boat, This Was A Hate Boat”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a press conference earlier today to explain the actions of his nations military, who seized a ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, leaving nine dead. Defending the military’s attack as “self-defense,” he described the ship as a “hate boat” and its passengers as “violent supporters of terrorism,” noting several instances where weapons from Iran en route to Gaza had been seized previously.

Netanyahu based his defense of his military actions on the fact that Israel had previous seized large amounts of weaponry from similar flotillas destined for anti-Israeli groups in Gaza, and warned that this event was a reminder that “the international community cannot afford an Iranian port on the Mediterranean”:

“Under international law and under common sense and common decency, Israel has every right to interdict this weaponry, and to inspect the ships that might be transporting them. This is not a theoretical challenge or a theoretical threat. We’ve already interdicted vessels bound for Hezbollah and for Hamas from Iran, containing hundreds of tons of weapons. In one ship we found hundreds of tons of war materials and weapons destined to Hezbollah.”

As for the ship seized on Monday in particular, “this wasn’t a love boat,” he explained, “this was a hate boat.” He said the Israeli military had reason to suspect that “they had planned their violent action in the past,” and that they were “violent supporters of terrorism,” but that, even with that evidence, “for the international community… Israel is guilty until it is proven guilty.” He also stressed that there was “no humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” “no shortage of food” or of other supplies: “Here is our policy, it’s very simple: humanitarian and other goods can go in, and weapons and war materials cannot.”

The press conference below:

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