(JTA) — The family of a Turkish-American killed during the Israeli raid of the Mavi Marmara ship have sued former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
Barak was served with papers on Tuesday after he giving a speech near Los Angeles, The Associated Press reported. The lawsuit was filed Oct. 16 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the report said.
Attorneys for the family of Furkan Dogan told AP that they have been trying to serve Barak, who was Israel’s defense minister at the time of the May 2010 incident, with litigation “for years.” Barak could qualify for diplomatic immunity. Dogan, a New York native, was living with his parents in Turkey at the time of his death in the raid on the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish boat seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague has declined to investigate the case for Israeli war crimes.
Dogan was among nine pro-Palestinian activists who were killed in the raid, when Israeli special forces rappelled down onto the ship. The incident caused a breakdown in relations between Turkey and Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in March 2013, after which representatives of the countries met for reconciliation talks, which did not bear fruit.
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