BREAKING: IDF OFFICIAL: ERDOGAN SAILING TO GAZA WILL BE A DECLARATION OF WAR; TURKISH SHIPS WOULD BE SUNK

According to a Lebanese report on Saturday, Erdogan is considering traveling to Gaza aboard a Turkish navy vessel accompanying a new attempt by protest boats to break Israel's maritime blockade.

On Monday a senior IDF commander said Israel would view an attempt by Erdogan to sail to Gaza as an act of war.

"If he comes here with Turkish warships there can be no doubt that it would amount to a declaration of war," Major-Genral (Res.) Uzi Dayan told Army Radio.

"We need to draw a clear line and say that whoever crosses it will not be boarded but sunk."

But another top defense official, Amos Gilad, who heads the defense ministry's policy unit, urged colleagues to tone down their denouncements of Erdogan rather than exacerbate the crisis with Turkey.

"Precisely because there is a crisis, we need to act with judgment and avoid calling a democratically elected leader a terrorist," Gilad said.

[link to www.haaretz.com]