Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday said that Israel was “willing to consider apologizing” for problems that occurred during last year’s raid of the Turkish flotilla ship the Mavi Marmara in which nine Turks were killed by IDF commandos.

Speaking to reporters in Washington following a meeting with his US counterpart Leon Panetta, Barak said that he would prefer to come to an understanding with Turkey rather than wait for the publication of a UN report on the incident, which he deemed “problematic for Israel.”…

“We are not apologizing for the blockade and we are not apologizing for using force,” he said. “We are willing to consider apologizing for problems that occurred during the Marmara operation, if indeed their were such problems…I don’t like it, but that is the choice that must be made,” Barak added.