“No Iranian Port in Gaza”

No crisis without Bibi. Israel’s prime minister survived a confrontation with U.S. President Barack Obama just before he took on not only Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, but also with much of the international community.

Of course, it is not his fault that his elite commandos shot nine alleged peace activists or terrorists to death. However, he does bear complete ministerial responsibility for the action, along with his defense minister, Ehud Barak. Both are now busily working, if not to prevent a fact-finding investigation, then at least to ensure those politically responsible for the decision will not be held accountable. Netanyahu has no lack of crisis experience, but he has a well-deserved reputation for being a politician prone to panic attacks that exacerbate his difficulties.

Naturally, this highly intelligent media star knows that he cannot evade some sort of investigation. He knows the forcibly stopped “freedom flotilla” was only the spearhead of an international movement to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, and he knows that a significant easing of the blockade is unavoidable. Nevertheless, Netanyahu lacks the political courage to make the decision to change course. He knows that doing so, whatever the outcome, would threaten his power. His power concerns him most — he who swore at the start of his second term that he would not be so easily gotten rid of this time, as he was in his first term.

How Washington cheered last summer when, as first head of government from the “national camp,” he embraced the two-state solution. In Israel, where the two-state solution enjoys the support of the majority of citizens, his words mean little since they are not followed by deeds. Netanyahu does not want to be remembered as the politician who abandoned the occupied territories and the Israeli settlements. He is equally disinclined to face any investigation or admit that radical Islamic Hamas and its allies have once again scored a victory. That is why the violence aboard the Mavi Marmara will not be the last such incident over Gaza. Quite the contrary.