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Ecuador, South Africaand Turkey recalled their ambassadors and Nicaragua broke off diplomatic relations following the raid. Vietnam put off a visit by Israel’s president, Greece suspended a military exercise and Swedish dockworkers launched a weeklong boycott of Israeli ships and goods. Even the United States, Israel’s closest ally, criticized the raid and forced Israel to set up a panel with two foreign observers to investigate the raid.
Many in Israel, including in the country’s leadership, have concluded that the war over world opinion is lost, said Israeli commentator Ronen Bergman. He said the “siege mentality” mindset was dangerous, particularly for a nation seeking to rally world support against what Israel sees as an existential threat — Iran’s nuclear program.
Many in Israel blame the country’s public diplomacy mechanism for not explaining itself properly and for being outmaneuvered in the media, but Bergman said this largely misses the point. “The problem is not with the marketing. The problem is with the product and the product is damaged. You can’t market occupation,” Bergman said, referring to Israel’s 43 years of control over the Palestinians.
A small French cinema chain postponed a showing of an Israeli comedy and replaced it with a documentary about an American student crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer during a 2003 Gaza protest, drawing condemnations from some French newspapers and French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand.
Israeli singer Dana International was scheduled to perform at a gay pride parade in Spain, but saw her concert canceled due to pressure from pro-Palestinian organizations.
I [Ronen Bergman] discovered a case from 1954, of an Israeli suspected of selling secrets to an Arab country. He was kidnapped by Israeli agents in Paris, and on the flight home was given an accidental overdose of a sedative and died. His wife was pregnant, and was never told what happened. I was the first person to tell his son that the Mossad threw his father’s body from the plane into the sea. At first the Shin Bet and Mossad denied it, then said they didn’t have the file. Eventually, they admitted it and apologized.
Ronen Bergman has published numerous articles and academic papers on topics such as Israeli military history, Hamas, Hezbollah and Iranian-funded terrorism and is author of the book “The Secret War with Iran: The 30-Year Clandestine Struggle Against the World’s Most Dangerous Terrorist Power” (Free Press, 2008), which describes the three-decade intelligence struggle between Iran and the West.
WSJ: Siege Fatigue and the Flotilla Mistake by Ronen Bergman
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
