Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has urged NATO to expel Turkey after the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, threatened that Turkey might enter Israel, as it had entered Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh in the past.
“Just like we entered Karabakh, just like we entered Libya, we will do [something] similar to them,” Erdoğan said on Sunday in remarks that were interpreted as the threat of a military operation into Israel by Turkey although he did not spell out what sort of intervention he was suggesting.
“In light of Turkish President Erdogan’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 said, according to The Times of Israel newspaper.
Israel is located outside the geographical scope of the NATO military alliance. While it has had close security cooperation with the US and other Western countries, Israel has not sought formal membership in defense alliances like NATO. Turkey, on the other hand, joined NATO in 1952 and has the alliance’s second largest army.
One of the most outspoken critics of the ongoing Israeli offensive on Gaza, Erdoğan told a meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the Black Sea province of Rize that Turkey “must be very strong so that Israel can’t do these ugly things to Palestine.”
Erdoğan drew an angry response from Katz, who compared him to the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, which in return prompted many Turkish government officials including Katz’s counterpart, Hakan Fidan, to hit back in defense of Erdoğan.
They said Erdoğan was being attacked due to his support for the Palestinian people and their cause.
Just like Katz, far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders also said Turkey should be kicked out of NATO after Erdoğan’s remarks about “invading” Israel.
“Islamofascist Erdogan threatens to invade Israel. This guy is totally nuts. Turkey should be kicked out of NATO,” he tweeted on Sunday.
NATO does not have a specific mechanism to suspend or expel a member, though members may voluntarily withdraw. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg dismissed the possibility of creating such a mechanism in 2021, saying it “would never happen.”
Erdoğan, who has long marketed himself in the Muslim world as a champion of Palestinian rights and a fierce critic of Israel, has repeatedly accused Israel of being a “terrorist state” and of committing “genocide” due to Israel’s ongoing attacks on the Palestinian enclave in Gaza.
In May Turkey suspended all trade with Israel until it allows aid to enter Gaza unhindered during its offensive against Hamas militants in the territory.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which began on October 7 following an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, has led to more than 39,000 casualties and massive devastation, according to the health ministry in Gaza.