Israeli, European calls to expel Turkey from NATO after President Erdoğan threatens to invade Israel

Read this article in:

Israel's foreign minister urged NATO to expel Turkey from the Western defense alliance on Monday after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appeared to threaten to invade Israel amid heightened tensions over the war in Gaza.

“In light of Turkish President Erdoğan's threats to invade Israel and his dangerous rhetoric, Foreign Minister Israel Katz instructed diplomats… to urgently engage with all NATO members, calling for the condemnation of Turkey and demanding its expulsion from the regional alliance,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem announced in a statement.

Speaking at an AKP party meeting in Turkey on Sunday, Erdoğan falsely portrayed Israel as a threat to its neighbors and threatened to intervene and take action.

“We must be very strong so that Israel can’t do these things to Palestine,” Erdoğan said. “Just as we entered [Nagorno-] Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we might do the same to them. There is nothing we cannot do. Only we must be strong,” warned the Turkish leader.

Katz quickly responded to the Turkish threat, comparing Erdoğan to the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who openly threatened to attack and destroy the Jewish state.

“Erdoğan is following in the footsteps of Saddam Hussein and threatening to attack Israel. He should remember what happened there and how it ended,” he stated on Sunday.

The Israeli foreign minister further argued that under Erdoğan, Turkey had abandoned NATO and effectively become a full-fledged member of the "axis of evil,” a reference to Iran and its terrorist proxies.

“Turkey, which hosts the Hamas headquarters responsible for terrorist attacks against Israel, has become a member of the Iranian axis of evil, alongside Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen,” Katz said.

Meanwhile, Dutch right-wing leader Geert Wilders also slammed Erdoğan for his anti-Israel threats and urged NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) to expel Turkey.

"Islamofascist Erdogan threatens to invade Israel. This guy is totally nuts. Turkey should be kicked out of NATO," Wilders wrote on 𝕏. Wilders has emerged as a vocal supporter of Israel and has criticized mass immigration from Muslim-majority countries to the West.

In November, Wilders stated: 'Jordan is Palestine,' which drew negative responses from parts of the Arab world.

Turkey and Israel used to have close commercial and military ties. However, under the Islamist leadership of Erdoğan, Turkey has shifted away from its former pro-Western and pro-Israel position to show support for Iran and its terrorist proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah. Following the unprecedented Hamas massacre of 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, Turkey has become a virulent critic of the Israeli government. The Turkish leader has refused to condemn the Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians, while simultaneously demonizing Israel by comparing it to Nazi Germany.

“Turkey is a country that speaks openly with Hamas leaders and firmly backs them,” Erdoğan said. “No one can make us qualify Hamas as a terrorist organization.”

Erdoğan equated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and other despots like Mussolini and Stalin.

“Netanyahu and his administration, with their crimes against humanity in Gaza, are writing their names next to Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin, like today’s Nazis,” Erdoğan said.