Just before the July 7 NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called U.S. President Donald Trump and reminded him of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s escalating anti-Israel statements. He asked Trump to “rein in” Erdoğan’s belligerent and antisemitic rhetoric. Netanyahu mentioned Erdoğan’s reference to Zionism as a genocidal” ideology and the assertion that Israel poses a threat to Turkey’s survival.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has also escalated the anti-Israel rhetoric, saying in an interview with Turkey’s CNN Türk TV that Israel is “a burden that humanity can no longer bear” and “a problem for the entire world.” Fidan then called on the international community to impose sanctions on Israel. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called Fidan’s words “a clear call for genocide.”
The Jewish people know very well what happens when such words are allowed to go unchallenged. The first step on the road to genocide is dehumanization.
However, when a reporter at an Oval Office briefing asked Trump about the Turkish dictator’s recent antisemitic remarks about Israel, Trump ignored the question. Instead, he praised Erdoğan, stating: “As you know, he’s a very good friend of mine, and we’ve worked very well together. I like him a lot.”
While expressing his fondness for Erdoğan and ignoring the threats posed to Israel by Erdoğan, Trump has shown himself to be an unstable friend of Israel and of Netanyahu in particular. He ignored the fact that Netanyahu has been his only partner in fighting the Iranian regime, which has sought America’s destruction for decades and was on the verge of assembling a nuclear weapon.
Conversely, Erdoğan has been assisting the Iranian regime in evading U.S. sanctions. According to Politico, Western diplomats have stated that a secret meeting was held between a delegation of senior Iranian military and government officials and a business group from Turkey led by a confidant of Erdoğan. The purpose of the meeting was to strengthen their partnership in smuggling Iranian oil to buyers in China and Russia, and to raise funds for Tehran’s terrorist proxies.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has confirmed that Turkey helped prevent armed Iranian Kurdish groups from opening a new front inside Iran as part of what Tehran says was a US-Israeli regime-change effort. Erdoğan was opposed to regime change in Iran and to the Kurdish militias who were willing and able to take on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Had the Kurdish militias been given a chance, the war with Iran might have progressed differently, as the regime and the IRGC would have faced a significant challenge from within.
Trump appears to prefer that the ongoing conflict between Erdoğan and Netanyahu continue, while deliberately overlooking the significant threat posed by the Turkish dictator. Indeed, Trump is eager to sell Erdoğan lethal F-35 fighter jets, which directly menace Israel and Greece, a NATO member.
Trump’s repeated praise of Erdoğan despite Erdoğan’s threats against Israel may well be the latest sign of the president’s growing discomfort with Netanyahu. Reports suggest that Trump rebuked Netanyahu in recent phone calls and has done so in the press; for example, by asserting that Netanyahu will do whatever Trump says on Iran and Lebanon.
Israel faces an existential threat from Iran, and Netanyahu understands that only regime change will bring stability to the Middle East. In fact, under a more secular and liberal government, Iran could well become an American ally and a signatory to the Abraham Accords. The Islamist Erdoğan, however, whose support of the anti-Western and anti-Christian Muslim Brotherhood is well known, has an abiding interest in preserving the current Iranian regime, albeit somewhat weakened.
The Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran sharpened the divide between Trump and Netanyahu. Eager for a deal, Trump allowed Tehran to shape the terms by linking the agreement to the preservation of Iran’s Lebanese proxy Hezbollah. After Hezbollah violated the ceasefire by firing on northern Israel, Trump pressed Netanyahu to halt Israeli strikes on Hezbollah headquarters in southern Beirut, and Netanyahu reluctantly complied.
In Israel, the MoU was seen as Trump yielding to Iran, because Trump demanded full Israeli compliance even as Iran violated the agreement by attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
As long as Iran remains undefeated and receives financial support from Erdoğan’s assistance in oil-smuggling, Hezbollah’s entrenchment in Lebanon will continue and Israeli communities in northern Israel will remain vulnerable to attacks.
No Israeli government, nor any government, including the United States, should tolerate a terrorist organization on its borders. Moreover, the legitimate Lebanese government led by President Joseph Aoun recognizes that Hezbollah must not be permitted to undermine the government’s independence by provoking war with Israel and establishing Iran as the de facto dominant power over Lebanese affairs.
Is the Trump administration interested in promoting peace and stability in the Mideast, or are deals with Erdoğan more important? Is Trump’s frustration with the Iran war causing him to scapegoat Netanyahu? At the moment, it seems so.
