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Flotilla Diplomacy Proves the Importance of Hard Power
(Commentary) Evelyn Gordon - With diplomatic efforts to stop this year's flotilla to Gaza a seeming success, a new myth has arisen: The success of this year's effort proves Israel could also have stopped last year's flotilla without bloodshed had it only been a bit smarter. But the sorry truth is Israel's diplomatic efforts succeeded this time only because of its willingness to use force last year. Last year Israel tried desperately to stop the flotilla peacefully. It negotiated frantically with Turkey, but Ankara reneged at the last minute. It begged the countries whence the ships were sailing (Turkey, Greece and Ireland) not to let them depart, but to no avail: The unanimous response was democracies can't bar peaceful demonstrators from sailing the high seas. So why was it suddenly okay for democratic countries to intervene this year? Because this year, they had an excuse: The intervention was meant to prevent bloodshed.