Türkiye issues arrest warrant for Netanyahu and increases tension with Israel

This Friday (21), two important military allies of Washington, Türkiye and Israel, increased the tension of the diplomatic crisis they are experiencing. Ankara issued a new arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and the government in Tel Aviv responded by saying it would act against "Turkey's attempts to destabilize the region."

It is not the first time that the Turkish government, under the command of autocrat Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has called for Netanyahu's arrest. In November 2025, Turkey, a Muslim-majority country, issued arrest warrants for the prime minister and 36 other Israeli officials, accusing them of genocide in the Gaza Strip.

This Friday, the order refers to the actions of Israeli forces against the humanitarian flotilla that attempted to break the naval blockade imposed by Tel Aviv against Gaza. Netanyahu and members of his government were accused of the crimes of bodily harm, torture, destruction of property and theft of goods, in addition to vehicle hijacking.

The Israeli government was widely criticized by several countries, including Brazil, for the treatment given to activists intercepted in May of this year. There were a series of reports of ill-treatment and torture that flotilla participants allegedly suffered in Israeli custody.

At the time, the Israeli Minister of National Security, the extremist Itamar Ben-Gvir, published a video with members of the flotilla detained with their hands tied and their foreheads resting on the ground. "Welcome to Israel, this is how we treat supporters of terrorism," the post's caption read.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Ben-Gvir at the time of damaging the country's international image, and Netanyahu said that "the way Ben-Gvir dealt with them is not in line with Israel's values and norms." The government, however, denied all accusations of ill-treatment and said that the interception of the flotilla followed international maritime law.

Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gürlek said this Friday that his country will not accept "that the Netanyahu government is untouchable and exempt from accountability." "We will continue to stand firm on the side of the Palestinian people, the oppressed and humanitarian values. We will take all necessary steps to bring those who commit crimes against humanity to justice," concluded Gürlek.

The Netanyahu government reacted immediately. In a statement, he called Erdogan an "anti-Semitic dictator" and recalled the several arrests of journalists and opposition politicians in Türkiye. "Israel will continue to act decisively against [Turkish] attempts to destabilize the region," the statement said.

On X, the official account of the Israeli prime minister's office also published a video justifying the attack that escalated the crisis this week. On Tuesday (18), Israel bombed the Abu al-Duhur air base, in northwestern Syria, stating that Turkey was preparing to send a military contingent to the facility.

A spokesman for Netanyahu says in the video that the attacked base is less than 290 kilometers from Israeli territory and that it could pose a threat. "We will not allow Turkey to entrench itself in Syria and move further and further south towards Israel," he said, adding that Erdogan is an enemy of the Jewish state.

The bilateral relationship between the countries, whose territory is separated only by Syria, began to worsen after the attacks on October 7, 2023. The terrorist group Hamas, responsible for the attacks that killed 1,200 Israelis, has diplomatic support from Erdogan, who, in 2020, received leaders of the extremist faction on an official visit. The action was condemned at the time by Israel and the USA.

Throughout the war in the Gaza Strip, in which at least 73,000 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks, Erdogan constantly criticized Tel Aviv's actions. The Turkish president spoke of genocide and suspended all trade and flights with Israel, but did not take the step of formally severing diplomatic relations.

Turkey is one of only five countries in the Middle East that recognize the existence of the State of Israel, alongside Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which would make any more severe worsening of relations extremely damaging for Tel Aviv.

Added to this is the fact that Turkey occupies a very high position on the list of US allies. Ankara is a member of NATO, the military alliance led by Washington, operates missiles and hundreds of American-made fighter planes, and is one of six countries where the Pentagon stores nuclear weapons. Only Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and the United Kingdom also make up this list.

Also because of the closeness between Erdogan and Hamas, Turkey, alongside Egypt and Qatar - where the group's leaders live today - helped negotiate the peace agreement between Israel and the terrorist group endorsed by Trump with the creation of the Peace Council.

Progress on the terms of the truce, however, has been slow, and on Thursday (20) Ankara, Doha and Cairo criticized Israel for repeated attacks on Gaza despite the agreement. "The intensification of Israeli attacks undermines international efforts at a critical time," the countries said in a statement.

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