Israel will not lift its blockade of Gaza, and continue to prevent large amounts of weapons from reaching the coastal enclave, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday.
A ship can carry tons of weapons and hundreds of rockets, "therefore it is our duty to scrutinize each ship that approaches Gaza," he told a news conference in Jerusalem, called to defend Israel's forceful interception early Monday of six aid ships headed for Gaza.
"I want to clarify to the citizens of the world what would happen if we don't do that: It would mean an Iranian port in Gaza, at a distance of only a few dozen kilometres from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem."
A port in Gaza with free flow of weapons brought from Iran would mean a "concrete threat" to Israel, "and to many states of Europe."
The organizers of the "Freedom Flotilla" ships had rejected Israel's offer to dock in the southern Israeli port of Ashdod. "Therefore we had no choice but to board them."
Israel's naval commandos were then "confronted by a radical and violent group."
"It was not the love boat. It was a boat of hatred. It was not a flotilla of peace. It was a flotilla of supporters of terrorists," blasted Netanyahu.
"The soldiers which boarded the ship were attacked with knives, with rods. They were tossed off the deck. They (the activists) snatched their weapon and fired at them. ... There was an attempt here to lynch Israeli soldiers.
"Are these peace activists? Are these pacifist activists?" he asked angrily. "These are radical and violent supporters of terrorists."
Insisting the Israeli military had acted with "unequalled restraint," he said: "I ask myself what soldiers of other states would have done?"
"We are of course sorry about the loss of life, but our soldiers were in a life-threatening situation," he insisted, vowing:
"We will continue to defend our citizens. We will continue to allow our soldiers to defend themselves."