Senators Send Letter To Obama Defending Israel In Flotilla Incident

A huge majority of senators co-signed a letter to President Barack Obama Wednesday defending Israel's actions in the flotilla incident last month and urging the administration to oppose a U.N. resolution critical of the country.

Led by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — and signed by 85 other members of the upper chamber — the letter argues that Israel's blockade of Gaza was both legal and necessary, and that Israeli commandos were acting in self-defense when they landed on the ship.

"[V]ideo footage shows that the Israeli commandos who arrived on the sixth ship, which was owned by the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (the IHH), were brutally attacked with iron rods, knives, and broken glass," the senators wrote.

"They were forced to respond to that attack and we regret the loss of life that resulted," the letter adds.

The bipartisan group of lawmakers urged Obama to oppose a resolution in the United Nations critical of Israel.

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