Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday to shut Turkey’s embassy in Tel Aviv and consulate in Jerusalem due to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s open support for Hamas and other jihadist groups.
The minister spoke during the weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem and then went public on X.
“The rhetoric and actions of @RTErdogan, the dictator in Ankara, are those of the leader of an enemy state,” Chikli posted. “No self-respecting nation would tolerate this conduct.
“Israel must expel all of Erdoğan’s representatives from its sovereign territory and from its eternal capital, Jerusalem,” he continued. “I remain hopeful that one day the Turkish people will remove their dictator and that friendship between our nations can be restored.”
Today at the Cabinet meeting, I urged the Prime Minister to shut down Turkey's consulates in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv immediately and to ban TIKA, which advances hostile political subversion under the disguise of cultural activity.
— עמיחי שיקלי - Amichai Chikli (@AmichaiChikli) November 23, 2025
The rhetoric and actions of @RTErdogan, the… pic.twitter.com/P9Yq14ElN3
On Oct. 20, Chikli called Erdoğan a “sworn enemy of Israel and the West, a jihadist in a suit.”
Israel has said it would not allow Turkey to be part of an international security force in Gaza.