It is likely the closest the Israeli government will over come to an investigation of the attack on the Mavi Marmara aid ship, a deadly raid which left nine aid workers dead and one of Israel’s closest allies, Turkey, demanding explanations.

But today an Israeli military panel charged with probing the attack (in a limited manner) faulted the Navy in general for failures to coordinate with Mossad on pre-attack intelligence regarding the civilian aid ship. It did not, however, name any names or asign specific blame.

It also declared that the commandos who boarded the ship and killed the aid workers could be “praised” and that the overall raid saw “no negligence or failures on any significant matters.”

The probe was a foregone conclusion, and it lacked any mandate to criticize the operation or aftermath in any serious way. The only reason for he probe in the first place was to quiet demands for an international probe, and even then it came with promises, before investigation even began, that it would vindicate the attack and the killings.

And it by and large has been successful, with the United States praising the Israeli probe in advance and dropping its calls for an international probe the minute Israel made it clear that would be unacceptable to them.

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