Erdogan and Netanyahu Trade Accusations Over Israeli Actions in Lebanon and Syria

In June 2026, Ankara and Tel Aviv exchanged public accusations against a backdrop that included Israel’s prolonged war with Iran, Turkish military presence in Syria, and rivalry in the Eastern Mediterranean.

On June 10, 2026, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed Parliament and said that Israeli military action in Lebanon and Syria threatened the safety of Turkey. He said Ankara would not tolerate such developments in neighboring countries and argued that Israel destabilizes the region under cover of international silence. Erdogan called on world powers to take a clearer position and urged that Israel be held to international law, which he described as a shared duty.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded on social media. He called Erdogan an “anti-Semite dictator,” accused him of supporting Hamas and of committing genocide against Kurds, and said he had crushed his own people and imprisoned political opponents. Netanyahu said Israel would continue to act against Iran and its proxy and would not back down under pressure. The source does not provide evidence for these accusations, and they are reported here as Netanyahu’s statements.

Erdogan replied on June 11, saying that Netanyahu would follow in Hitler’s footsteps. The source describes this exchange as part of a cycle of heated statements that has become nearly routine in relations between the two governments. It also reports that U.S. President Donald Trump, when asked about the dispute, declined to comment on the Turkish president’s remarks and said only: “Erdo[gan] is my good friend, we work well and respect each other.”

The source also describes an April 2026 episode involving the media. The British newspaper The Daily Telegraph published an article titled “Erdogan threatening to invade Israel,” which was later removed. According to the source, the article was based on a 2024 speech by Erdogan that had been taken out of context through a deliberately distorted translation. The source states that Turkish official sources issued a refutation. Its account of the affair is brief, and it does not specify further details of the correction. The episode is reported as a case in which a misleading report was removed after publication.

Looking further back, the source says that Turkey became one of the first Muslim-majority countries to establish diplomatic relations with Israel in 1949, and that the two countries then developed military cooperation, trade, and other contacts. The source’s account of how that relationship later became hostile is incomplete.

Source: Read the original report (translated from Ukrainian)