Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel Gideon Saar criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after he publicly asked Allah to destroy Israel.
During a visit to the mosque on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, Erdogan said:
“We see what is happening in Palestine. May Allah destroy Zionist Israel in his holy name.”
In response, Gideon Saar noted that “dictator Erdoğan” has now “shown his anti-Semitic face.”
“Erdogan is dangerous for the region and for his own people, as it is now clearly visible. We hope that NATO countries will realize this – and as soon as possible.”Saar emphasized.
This exchange of statements took place against the background of the escalation of the situation between Israel and Lebanon, which caused diplomatic tensions, in particular between Ankara and Tel Aviv. On Friday, two rockets were fired from Lebanon towards northern Israel. Despite Hezbollah’s denial of responsibility, Israel struck several targets, including in Beirut. This drew condemnation from Lebanon, France, the UN and Turkey.
In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry called the Israeli strikes a “violation of the ceasefire agreement” between Lebanon and Israel:
“These attacks once again demonstrated Israel’s flagrant disregard for international law and its continued threat to security and stability in the region. The international community must unite against Israel’s efforts to create a perpetual state of conflict in the region.”
In response, Israel’s foreign ministry accused Erdogan of hypocrisy, saying he “preaches high values to the international community” while “brutally repressing his own citizens and carrying out mass arrests of political opponents.”
