Israeli leaders slam Erdoğan after Turkish prosecutors file ‘war crime’ charges against them

Israeli leaders slammed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday after prosecutors in Istanbul filed symbolic indictments against 35 top officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over Jerusalem’s Oct. 1, 2025, interception of a flotilla bound for Gaza.

“Israel under my leadership,” Netanyahu tweeted on Saturday night, “will continue to fight Iran’s terror regime and its proxies, unlike Erdogan who accommodates them and massacred his own Kurdish citizens.”

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, posting to X in Hebrew and Turkish, charged that Erdogan, “who did not respond to missile fire from Iran into Turkish territory and was revealed to be a paper tiger, is now retreating into the realms of antisemitism and declaring show trials in Turkey against Israel’s political and military leadership.”

“What an absurdity. A man of the Muslim Brotherhood, who slaughtered the Kurds, accuses Israel—defending itself against his Hamas partners—of genocide,” Katz continued. “Israel will continue to defend itself with strength and determination, and he would do well to sit quietly and remain silent.”

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who was also among the 35 Israelis targeted by the Turkish indictment, stated, “Erdoğan, do you understand English? F*ck you.”

The charges, filed on Friday, accuse the officials of involvement in intercepting 50 vessels that sought to break Jerusalem’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip as part of the Hamas-backed “Sumud Flotilla” some six months ago. Turkish prosecutors are reportedly seeking severe penalties, including life imprisonment and additional cumulative sentences ranging from 1,102 to 4,596 years.

In addition to Netanyahu, Katz and Ben-Gvir, the indictment was said to name Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, Commander of the Israeli Navy Vice Adm. David Saar Salama, former Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson Daniel Hagari, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and Likud Party lawmaker Tally Gotliv.

Turkey already issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and other officials in November, and possible criminal proceedings are expected to take place in absentia.

The indictment claims that the decision to stop the flotilla inside the IDF-enforced interception zone off Gaza’s coast was illegal under international law. Charges reportedly include alleged crimes against humanity, genocide, unlawful detention, abuse, looting and damage to property.

Jerusalem maintains that its naval blockade on the enclave, imposed on Jan. 3, 2009, is compatible with international law. It aims to prevent weapons, terrorists and funds from entering or exiting Gaza by sea.

Responding to Netanyahu’s X post on Saturday, Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the premier, “who has been described as the Hitler of our time due to the crimes he has committed, is a well-known figure with a clear track record.”

“The fact that our president has been targeted by Israeli officials with baseless, brazen, and false allegations is a result of the discomfort caused by the truths we have consistently voiced on every platform,” according to Ankara.

“Netanyahu’s current objective is to undermine ongoing peace negotiations and continue his expansionist policies in the region,” the statement charged, vowing to “ensure that Netanyahu is held accountable for the crimes he has committed.”

Erdogan has set himself in opposition to Israel since the Mavi Marmara incident in 2010, when a flotilla of ships from Turkey attempted to break an Israeli sea blockade to reach the Gaza Strip.

After a brief thawing of relations in 2022, ties again became strained following the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 men, women and children in southern border communities were massacred and 251 others taken hostage to Gaza.

Since then, Erdogan has engaged in extremist rhetoric against Israel and its leader, adapting classic antisemitic imagery, repeatedly calling Netanyahu a “vampire who feeds on blood.”