Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz snapped back at Erdogan’s statement on Friday with a post on X which read: “The President of Turkey, from a country with the Armenian Genocide in its past, now boasts of targeting Israel with unfounded claims.”
“Israel stands in defense, not destruction, against your barbarian allies,” Katz added.
As Israel never formally recognised the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915-1917 as a genocide, largely in an effort to maintain its relations with Turkey, Katz’s tweet marked what some reports believe to be a calculated escalation against Turkey.
Since Oct. 7 Erdogan has railed against the Jewish State, calling Israel a “terrorist state” and repeatedly defending the actions of Hamas. In late October, Israel recalled its diplomats from Turkey over the president’s accusations that Israel was committing war crimes and, shortly after, Turkey recalled its diplomats from Israel, citing the “unfolding humanitarian tragedy in Gaza caused by the continuing attacks by Israel against civilians and Israel’s refusal of calls for a ceasefire and the continuous and unhindered flow of humanitarian aid.”
On Monday Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called Erdogan a “full-on Nazi”, writing in a post on X: “I call on Israelis not to travel to Turkey, not to buy any Turkish products and not to financially support them. The State of Israel and Israeli citizens must not act with forgiveness toward Turkey. We won’t let ourselves be trampled on.”
