Netanyahu: Israel takes Erdoğan’s threats ‘very seriously’

Israel takes Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s repeated statements against the Jewish state “very seriously,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday.

“Hardly a day goes by without Erdoğan calling for the destruction of the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said. “We take these words very seriously, because if we have learned one thing from the history of our people, it is that when someone says he intends to destroy you, take him seriously.”

He added that Israel would raise the issue with Washington. “We are not ignoring this,” the prime minister said.

Erdoğan said on Saturday that “genocidal, occupying, expansionist” Zionism poses an existential threat to Turkey, continuing a pattern of harsh rhetoric since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks and the ensuing Gaza war.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry rebuked Erdoğan, calling him a “dictator” who persecutes political opponents, imprisons journalists and backs jihadist groups. “Erdoğan will pass. Israel will remain forever,” the ministry said on X.

Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli also reacted, writing on Saturday night that Erdoğan is a “deranged antisemitic dictator” whose “Nazi-tinged speech reveals the truth: terror supporter, Kurd murderer, and tyrant.”

Meanwhile, Likud Knesset member Amit Halevi called on Sunday for the immediate closure of Turkey’s consulate in Jerusalem and diplomatic sanctions against Ankara. Speaking outside the mission, Halevi warned that it was “functioning as a de facto embassy for a hostile, Hamas-run entity,” citing findings by the Katz Jerusalem Center for Applied Policy (JCAP) on Turkish activity in the capital.

Ties between Israel and Turkey have deteriorated sharply during the war, with Ankara maintaining contacts with Hamas and suspending trade ties, though stopping short of a full diplomatic break.