At several points in his testimony relating to intelligence- gathering and relations with Turkey, Ashkenazi demurred and asked to respond to the queries at an in-camera session, which was held later in the day.

The IDF's biggest operational mistake in the raid lay in not being able to get enough helicopter-borne troops onto the top deck soon enough to create a "sterile zone," Ashkenazi said.

Ashkenazi, noting that the IDF was aware of at least two more flotilla attempts in the making, including from Lebanon and Europe, said the military would consider using more lethal methods than the side arms, paintball and bean-bag guns the troops carried.

"There was need to fire with accurate weapons and neutralize those who prevented the rappelling down of soldiers, something that would have decreased the risk of harm to them. That is the chief lesson for the next operation," he said.

Some passengers on the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship of the flotilla, accused Israeli soldiers of firing on sleeping passengers.

Ashkenazi, however, said he "totally denied" Turkish pathology reports on the nine victims alleging that troops shot them " gangland style" and at point-blank range.

Defending the soldiers' actions onboard, he said the nine activists were killed "as a result of the passengers' decision to violently engage the troops," and that the commando forces behaved "proportionally" to the threat. He praised what he called the soldiers' "restraint."
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