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War of Words Escalates as Turkey Accuses Israel of Genocide, Jerusalem Brands Erdogan
Israel accused Erdoğan of antisemitic incitement after he called Zionism genocidal and invoked the Holocaust, while Turkey denounced Israel’s response.
On Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan branded Zionism a "genocidal ideology" and urged Muslim nations to unite against Israel, claiming the government seeks to destabilize the region.
Drawing parallels to historical atrocities by Hitler and Pol Pot, Erdoğan argued that international inaction toward Israeli institutions—compared to Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels' machinery—is repeating in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of antisemitism lists "drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis" as potentially antisemitic conduct.
On Saturday, Israel's Foreign Ministry condemned the Turkish president for "antisemitic incitement," accusing Erdoğan of using "false blood libels" to divert attention from his government's actions.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry rejected Jerusalem's response, instead accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government of genocide, escalating the diplomatic rift between the nations.