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.
[2] The report has also been criticized for failing to reconcile its conclusions with the findings by Israeli doctors that all of the dead passengers suffered multiple bullet wounds and five were shot in the neck or head.
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,[4][5][6][text 1] 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.
The committee also contracted the services of two foreign international law experts:[9] 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.
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.
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.
"The commission accused the IHH, a Turkish Islamist charity that owned the Mavi Marmara, "of planned and extremely violent" resistance which was "directly connected to the ongoing international armed conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The Israeli armed forces' interception and capture of the Gaza flotilla vessels was consistent with established international naval practice.
However, the focus of the planning and organization of the operation on a lower level of resistance did not lead to a breach of international law, the commission said.
[9] In its final remarks, the committee concluded that: Turkey and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the Israeli investigation and said it would not meet demands set by the UN Security Council.
He specifically noted that the blockade prevented the entry of essential medical supplies and basic food items, including lentils, pasta, and tomato paste.
Furthermore, Finkelstein cited a report from the Israeli human rights organization Gisha, which detailed items restricted by the blockade.
These items encompass a variety of goods such as spices (sage, coriander, ginger), food products (jam, halva, vinegar, nutmeg, chocolate, fruit preserves, seeds, nuts, biscuits, potato chips), and non-food items (musical instruments, notebooks, writing materials, toys, chicks, and goats).
[26][27][28] In July 2010, the Israeli cabinet voted to expand the committee's powers to include subpoenas and receiving sworn testimony but with the proviso that they cannot speak with any IDF soldiers.
According to this Amendment, the Government has a duty to consider the "due representation" of women from all segments of the population in any policy-making committee, including on peace and security teams.
Two weeks after the Court's ruling, the Government announced that five women refused to serve on the commission, and that it therefore considered itself in compliance with the law.
[35] Justice Minister Yaakov Ne'eman, after reportedly lying to Government Cabinet on his actions toward nominating women,[36] publicly expressed his view that the Court's ruling was a severe mistake.