Ashkenazi defends soldiers

After Defense Minister Ehud Barak shifted some of the responsibility for the decision to storm a Gaza-bound Turkish ship to the IDF, Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi told the panel investigating the raid that he "takes responsibility for the army's actions." "The (committee's) decision to avoid summoning (Navy) commanders is correct," he said Wednesday morning, adding that he was "proud" of the soldiers who took part in the raid. The commandos exhibited calm, bravery and morality in accordance with IDF values," Ashkenazi told the committee. The army chief said during his testimony that the soldiers who raided the Marmara ship opened fire at the passengers because they felt their lives were in danger. Ashkenazi continued to say that, "The main mistake was that we thought there were 10-15 people on the (ship's) deck. We should have used precise fire to incapacitate those preventing the soldiers from boarding the ship to reduce the risk to our soldiers.