Israel calls Erdoğan “Tyrant” after Turkish arrest warrants for Netanyahu

On Friday, Israel reacted to the arrest warrants issued by the Istanbul Criminal Court against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior Israeli officials, accusing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of “political manipulation” and making “false claims.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar wrote on X: “Israel strongly and contemptuously rejects the latest propaganda stunt by the tyrant Erdoğan,” describing the Turkish move as “a political show aimed at tarnishing Israel’s image on the international stage.”

The Istanbul Criminal Court had issued 37 arrest warrants against Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, on charges of “genocide” and “crimes against humanity” during the war in Gaza.

A statement from the Turkish Public Prosecutor’s Office said the warrants were issued “as a result of the genocide and crimes against humanity systematically committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip,” noting that “thousands of civilians, including women and children, have lost their lives, while entire residential areas have been destroyed.”

The Turkish decision sparked a wave of reactions within Israel. Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, described the move as “proof that Turkey is unfit to take part in any future arrangements concerning Gaza,” adding that “these orders highlight the danger of granting Ankara any direct or indirect role in the Strip.”

For his part, Netanyahu reaffirmed this week his firm rejection of Turkish participation in the international force planned for deployment in Gaza. In a meeting with reserve officers, he said: “There will be no Turkish forces in the Gaza Strip, and no hostile entity to Israel will enter there,” stressing that his government “will not allow a repeat of past mistakes that gave Israel’s enemies a foothold in its security perimeter.”

These developments come amid signs of further deterioration in relations between the two countries, with expectations that the arrest warrants will lead to a freeze in diplomatic contacts and the closure of security dialogue channels between Ankara and Tel Aviv, at a time when international parties are seeking to calm tensions and prevent a wider political confrontation in the Middle East.

A-H 

ANHA