Israel Cabinet Minister rules out apology for Mavi Marmara raid

Israel will not "take responsibility" for the deaths of nine Turkish nationals by apologizing to Ankara over its botched 2010 raid on an aid ship heading for Gaza, a senior cabinet minister said yesterday. "We are not ready to apologize, as apologizing is taking responsibility," Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon told reporters in Jerusalem. "There is no room in my mind for any kind of apology that means taking responsibility," he said of the raid on the Gaza-bound aid convoy. But, he added, Israel would be prepared to make a statement regretting the loss of life when its commanders stormed the Mavi Marmara, the Turkish-owned ferry leading the convoy. "We are ready to (say we) regret the loss of lives," he said, repeating an offer which has already been rejected by Ankara as not going far enough.