debkafile's US sources disclose that the Erdogan government may act as though it calls the shots in the region to cow Israel, but Turkey is fast sliding into deep economic slump. In Washington, the Erdogan government's threat to incite an "Arab revolt" against Israel is seen as beyond acceptable diplomatic bounds, while its other threat on maritime movement in the Mediterranean is ridiculed: "The Turkish Navy is no match for Israeli missile boat technology, electronic jamming and tracking systems, submarines and close air cover."

Despite the regrettable loss of life, Israeli soldiers acted professionally, with restraint and purely in self-defense against the violent resistance they encountered aboard the Turkish Mavis Marmora on May 31, 2010. Their interception of a flotilla aiming to break Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip was legal under international law and so is Israel's naval blockade on Gaza. The nine deaths followed hostile Turkish IHH action against the Israeli boarding unit.

Israel's infrastructure  minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer met Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu secretly in Zurich Wednesday, June 30 in an effort to alleviate the crisis in relations.  Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu knew about the encounter, but not Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who accused the prime minister of a betrayal of trust. debkafile reports that Ankara, whose anti-Israel campaign is in full flight, saw in the initiative a mark of Israeli government weakness.