Netanyahu invents a 'new enemy'.. Turkey 'electoral war'
Washington, Beirut, Ankara – Agencies: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has engineered a confrontation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, adding a new adversary to his list of rivals in the Middle East, amid a difficult electoral campaign ahead of the October legislative elections. The new confrontation appears to be part of an effort to mobilize Netanyahu’s base before the polls.
Israeli airstrikes targeted a military airport in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border on Tuesday. In the aftermath, Netanyahu stated that Israel had sent a message to Turkey warning it against establishing a base in Syria, thereby acknowledging the strike. He added, “We will not allow a Turkish military presence extending southward, as it poses a threat to us.” He clarified that Israel had initially sent a message in “general terms” opposing a Turkish military presence at the Abu al-Duhur airbase near Aleppo. “Apparently, they did not hear us, so we made sure they understood more clearly,” he said.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that Erdogan is leading his country into “dangerous adventures” in Syria, affirming that Israel “will not allow any party to threaten its security.”
With the October 27 elections approaching, Netanyahu’s campaign released billboards featuring images of various world leaders, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accompanied by the caption: “These want Netanyahu to lose.”
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak criticized the escalation led by Netanyahu against Turkey, describing it as “reckless and stupid,” and attributing it to political motives linked to the upcoming elections. In a post on the X platform, Barak wrote that while “we cannot discuss all the details,” the “deliberate escalation led by Netanyahu against Turkey is a reckless and stupid act, and it is difficult to determine which of the two labels applies more.” He added that the escalation “strongly smells of political intent to reach the elections amidst a series of security tensions that cause public anxiety and fear.” Barak continued, “Turkey is not Iran, nor is it Assad’s Syria.” He argued that there is no strategic problem with Turkey that cannot be “resolved, contained, or deferred in the long term through secret communications and coordination with the United States, leveraging its influence in Turkey and Syria.” Barak accused Netanyahu of having “completely lost his mind.”
Yair Golan, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, which belongs to the Israeli center-left, described the attack in Syria as “provocative and dangerous,” warning that it “brings us closer to a confrontation with Turkey and deepens rifts with our allies, foremost among them the United States.” He added, “Once again, military force is being used for political considerations, and once again, Israel is paying the price on a security level.”
Galia Lindenstrauss, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, noted that Netanyahu is “playing the anti-Turkey card. I believe he sees it as something that can unite his base around him.”
Tensions between Ankara and Israel have been marred for years, particularly following the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and Israeli military activity in Syria since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in late 2024. However, unlike other countries attacked by Israel, such as Iran, Turkey has powerful allies. It is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and Erdogan maintains a friendly relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, who blamed Israel for the attack and condemned it through his ambassador in Ankara.
Turkey was the first Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel, and the two nations maintained strong trade ties before Turkey announced during the Gaza war that it would halt all commercial exchanges with Israel.
