The Turkel Commission (officially The Public Commission to Examine the Maritime Incident of 31 May 2010) is an inquiry set up by Israeli Government to investigate the Gaza flotilla raid, and the Blockade of Gaza. It is led by Israeli retired Supreme Court Judge Jacob Turkel. The other initial members of the commission were former President of the Technion and military expert, Amos Horev, and professor of international law, Shabtai Rosenne, who died in September 2010. The probe was overseen by two International observers: William David Trimble, former Leader of the Northern Irish Ulster Unionist Party and Northern Irish First Minister, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and Canadian former military judge Ken Watkin.
In July 2011, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that diplomats in Jerusalem had seen a draft copy of the UN investigative committee (the Palmer Committee) for the 2010 Flotilla to Gaza and claimed it said that the Turkel Commission inquiry was both "professional and independent".
Background
In the aftermath of the Gaza flotilla raid, Israel rejected calls from the United Nations and governments all around the world for an independent investigation of the events, but has formed a domestic commission of inquiry to investigate the raid, that includes two international observers and is headed by retired Supreme Court of Israel Justice Jacob Turkel.
Members
The Israeli members of the commission were as follows: Chair: Justice (ret.) Jacob Turkel – former Israeli Supreme Court Justice Professor Shabtai Rosenne – Bar Ilan University Professor of International Law (Professor Rosenne, 93 years old, died during the work of the commission, on 21 September 2010, and was not replaced.) Maj.-Gen (Res.) Amos Horev – retired Israeli army major-general and Technion President Professor Miguel Deutch – Tel Aviv University Professor of Law Reuven Merhav – retired Foreign Ministry director-general
The two international observers were: David Trimble (UK) – Former Leader of the Northern Irish Ulster Unionist Party and former First Minister of Northern Ireland Ken Watkin Q.C. (Canada) – former head of the Canadian military's legal branch, Judge Advocate General
The committee was coordinated and managed by Hoshea Gottlieb.
The committee also contracted the services of two foreign international law experts: Professor Wolff Heintschel von Heinegg Professor Michael Schmitt
Authority and operation
The inquiry was charged with investigating the legality of the Israeli blockade and the legality of the Israeli navy's actions during the raid, and determining whether investigations of claims of war crimes and breaches of international law conform to Western standards. It was also charged with looking into the Turkish position, and the actions taken by the flotilla's organizers, especially the IHH, and examining the identities and intentions of the flotilla's participants.
The commission was approved by the Cabinet of Israel on 14 June. The commission could hold sessions behind closed doors if it so decided. The inquiry was to exclusively examine the legality of Israel's naval blockade of Gaza and the flotilla raid.
Amid widespread media criticism that painted the commission as a tool to justify the blockade of Gaza, the use of force to maintain it and the Gaza flotilla raid, Jacob Turkel told the Israeli government that the commission could not do its job without expanded investigative powers. Other jurists criticized the panel's limited mandate, and the Israeli peace group Gush Shalom sent a petition to Israel's High Court of Justice. As of June 2010, the committee had no power to subpoena witnesses and cannot draw personal conclusions against those involved in the raid. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Turkel engaged in intense negotiations on the mandate and powers of the commission. Barak refuses to let the panel question any Israel Defense Forces soldiers or officers aside from its Chief of Staff and its Military Advocate General.