Israel’s government has decided to tough out the criticism of its attack this week on a six-ship flotilla trying to run the Gaza blockade. The story, and the anger, aren’t going away.

The news wires on Thursday were filled with pictures of grieving mourners as Turkey held funerals for 8 of the 9 activists killed on the lead ship. Some of the more than 600 activists from 42 countries, released from Israeli detention, are accusing Israel of a litany of abuses. Israel’s charges that its commandos were attacked and shot at by some of the ship’s passengers are being ignored by everyone except its most passionate defenders.

We still don’t know what happened on that ship. But we are sure that before things get even more out of control, the world  and Israel  needs an impartial international investigation. Instead of pressing for that, the Obama administration is encouraging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s misguided belief that Israel can lead its own probe with international participation. That is not going to suffice.

Some Israeli officials are pointing to South Korea, which recently conducted an investigation, with the participation of five other countries, into the sinking of a South Korean warship. There is a big difference: Seoul was examining North Korea’s behavior not its own.