A new escalation between Israel and Turkey, with Benjamin Netanyahu’s government launching a fierce attack against Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, just hours after Turkish authorities issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister.
Tensions between the two countries have escalated in recent days, following the Israeli airstrike in Syria and Israel’s concerns about a possible deployment of Turkish troops in the region.
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In a statement, Netanyahu’s office accused the Turkish president of attempting to extend the confrontation with Israel into Syria.
“Erdogan is now seeking to extend his aggression against Israel to Syria. Israel will not tolerate this,” the statement said.
At the same time, the Israeli prime minister’s office reiterated previous accusations against Erdogan, calling him an “anti-Semitic dictator” and accusing him of attacking the Kurds, harboring Hamas terrorists, occupying the northern part of Cyprus, and imprisoning a large number of journalists and politicians who disagree with him.
Israel’s announcement came after Turkey’s decision to issue an international arrest warrant for Netanyahu, as part of an investigation into Israel’s interception of a flotilla of activists bound for Gaza.
Tel Aviv responded by characterizing Ankara’s move as an “attempt to intimidate” Israeli leaders and soldiers.
“Erdoğan’s pitiful attempt to intimidate the leaders and soldiers of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East, will lead nowhere,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said.
In a separate statement, the Israeli government emphasized that it will continue to respond “resolutely” to Turkey’s efforts to destabilize the region and to any threat to Israel’s security.
Turkey requested an Interpol “red notice” for Netanyahu
. It should be noted that earlier, Turkey had requested an Interpol “red notice” against Netanyahu, as well as against another Israeli citizen, as Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurek announced today on X as part of an investigation into the interception of the “Gaza Flotilla” and the detention of the activists on board.
“As part of the legal proceedings regarding the attack in international waters against the flotilla’s activists (…) and in accordance with the arrest warrants issued on July 14, 2026, against Benjamin Netanyahu and Afek Moskovitz for ‘genocide,’ the Ministry of Justice has requested that the Ministry of the Interior issue red notices for their international arrest,” the Turkish minister announced.
Benjamin Netanyahu and Afek Moskovitz are being prosecuted for “crimes against humanity, genocide, deprivation of liberty, intentional beatings and injuries, torture, destruction of property, looting, and hijacking of means of transportation,” the ministry clarified.
