JERUSALEM, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Israeli naval commandos boarded the only ship participating in the second Gaza flotilla Tuesday without any violent resistance from the passengers and crew.
The takeover was in stark contrast to last year's events when nine pro-Palestinian activists, mainly Turkish, in the "Mavi Marmara" ship were killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers as Israel intercepted the first flotilla.
The death of the Turkish participants led to the deepening of an already deteriorated relationship between Israel and Turkey.
Analysts that spoke to Xinhua on Wednesday said that Israel had learned the tactical lessons from last year's raid, which also resulted in heavy international criticism and a United Nations investigation, and that the diplomatic efforts exerted this time resulted in a peaceful interception.
TURKEY'S ABSENCE
When the preparation got underway for this year's flotilla, initial reports indicated that the number of participating ships and activists would be greater than the first time, and that the Mavi Marmara, which had undergone extensive refurbishment, would once again be the flagship.
However, as time passed the organizers ran into more and more problems. The Turkish rights group IHH, which had been the driving force in 2010, decided to pull out and the Mavi Marmara remained in Turkish port as the remaining ships moved to Greece.
In Greece, the ships were kept from setting sail due to various problems, and more and more participants left for their home countries, until only some 16 aboard the Dignite/Al Karama remained.
Prof. Dror Ze'evi, of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, told Xinhua that several developments over the last years explain why Turkish organizations abandoned their leading role. "Turkey realized that this behavior has a price mainly in its relations with the United States," Ze'evi said.
He argued that the Turkish government started to feel as if it were being given a cold shoulder from the U.S. administration, as Washington was concerned over Turkish-Israeli relations, as well as improved Turkish ties with Iran.
The regional changes that have come as a result of the Arab unrest have also affected Turkey, according to Ze'evi. "During this time some of the basic building blocks of Turkey's policy in this region have been turned over," he argued.
As another factor behind Turkey's decision, "strangely enough despite the big political dispute, the economic relationship between Israel and Turkey developed to a great extent this year. It grew more that 30 percent," the professor said.
LESSONS LEARNT
Dr. Dan Schueftan, of the University of Haifa, told Xinhua that there are three reasons why the result of this year's flotilla was so different.
"Part of it is that Israel realized how disruptive and counterproductive these actions can be. We underestimated the significance of these provocations before," Schueftan argued.
He said that first reason was that Israel took the threat more seriously than last year; secondly, Israel learns that much more can be done on the political rather than military level; additionally, the lessened use of force lowers the chances of fatalities.
During the takeover of the Mavi Marmara in 2010, the first Israeli soldiers that boarded the ships had paintball guns as their main weapons, as the Israeli military didn't anticipate that the soldiers would face violent resistance. However, once it became clear that this was the case, deadly force was used.
Israel has imposed the strict maritime blockade on the Palestinian enclave since Hamas took control in 2007. The state persists that its naval blockade is intended to prevent the smuggling of weapons and munitions to Gaza.
In 2010 as well as 2011, Israel announced that it wouldn't allow sea craft to reach Gaza, instead suggesting that any aid aboard the vessels be brought to the Israeli port of Ashdod, and from there be delivered to Gaza overland.
Since the 2010 flotilla, Israel has eased import restriction to Gaza and Egypt's new government has opened the Rafah border crossing for people but not goods.
Schueftan said that in years to come, while Israel would be faced with similar situations as international rights groups may continue to question its polices, he wasn't sure if there would be any more flotillas.
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