'Israel will never say sorry'
Jul 5, 2010
Israel will never say sorry for defending itself, a senior government official said on Monday.
PHOTO: REUTERS
JERUSALEM - ISRAEL will never say sorry for defending itself, a senior government official said on Monday after Turkey demanded an apology for a deadly commando raid on an aid convoy to Gaza.
'Israel will never apologise for defending its citizens,' the official told AFP.
'Of course, we regret the loss of life but it was not the Israeli side that initiated the violence.' His remarks were made after Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu vowed Ankara would sever diplomatic ties with Israel unless it apologised over the operation which left nine people dead, all of them Turkish nationals.
But Israeli officials reacted angrily to Turkey's threats. 'When you want want an apology, you don't use threats or ultimatums,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP. 'Everything leads us to believe that Turkey has another agenda in mind,' he said, without giving further details.
Mr Davutoglu was quoted as telling Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper that 'relations will be broken' unless Israel apologises for the May 31 attack or admits the raid was unjust.
The minister also said Turkey had closed its airspace to all Israeli military flights in reaction to the raid.
straitstimes.com