Turkish president threatens to invade Israel after accusing Benjamin Netanyahu of being 'blinded by blood and hate'

Oliver Trapnell
Sun, 12 Apr 2026 21:00:14 +0000

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has issued a stark warning that Ankara could launch military operations against Israel, over its continued bombardment of Lebanon.

Speaking at the International Asia-Political Parties Conference in Istanbul on Sunday, Mr Erdogan condemned what he described as Israeli atrocities and warned that Turkey possessed the capability to act militarily.

Drawing parallels with previous Turkish interventions in Libya and the Nagorno-Karabakh region, he said: "We will do the same to them."

He continued that "there is nothing to prevent us from doing it".

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The Turkish leader then went on to launch a personal attack on the Israeli Prime Minister, accusing Benjamin Netanyahu of being "blinded by blood and hatred".

Mr Erdogan described Israeli actions as "barbaric" and claimed the country was running a "blood-stained genocide network" targeting civilians.

The escalating confrontation follows an indictment issued by a Turkish court on Friday against Mr Netanyahu alongside 35 additional Israeli officials for their involvement in stopping the "Sumud" Gaza flotilla last October.

Those charged include Defence Minister Israel Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, with prosecutors in Istanbul alleging the officials conducted military operations against civilians in international waters.

The flotilla had been carrying prominent campaigners, among them activist Greta Thunberg, who were subsequently taken into custody by Israeli authorities.

Turkish prosecutors are pursuing sentences totalling up to 4,596 years for the officials named in the case.

Ankara maintains it is enforcing international law through these charges, whilst Israeli officials have dismissed the proceedings as politically motivated.

Mr Netanyahu responded forcefully to the Turkish threats, asserting Israel would continue combating Iran's terror regime and its proxies, "unlike Erdogan who accommodates them and massacres his own Kurdish citizens".

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Defence Minister Mr Katz labelled the Turkish legal proceedings as sham trials driven by antisemitism, targeting Israeli political and military leaders.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted a profane message on X directed at the Turkish president.

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu delivered a particularly scathing rebuke, branding Mr Erdogan a "megalomaniacal dictator" harbouring "imperialist ambitions" who fancies himself "an Ottoman Sultan while being no more than a pathetic tyrant of a country with a collapsing economy and a dead democracy".

Mr Eliyahu pledged to propose severing all diplomatic relations with Turkey before the Israeli government.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry struck back with inflammatory language, describing the Israeli Prime Minister as "the Hitler of our time due to the crimes he has committed".

The ministry alleged Mr Netanyahu's primary aim is to sabotage current peace negotiations whilst pursuing territorial expansion throughout the region.

"Failing this, he risks being tried in his own country and is likely to be sentenced to imprisonment," Turkish officials said.

Turkey defended its president against Israeli criticism, attributing the attacks to discomfort over "the truths we have consistently voiced on every platform".

The ministry characterised Israeli accusations as "baseless, brazen, and false allegations".