Netanyahu attacks Erdoğan online after 'Promised Land' warning

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu targeted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a social media post on Wednesday, responding to remarks in which the Turkish leader said Türkiye would never allow what he called the "delusion of the Promised Land" (Arz-ı Mevud). In the post, Netanyahu described the Israeli military as "the most moral army in the world" and said Israel would press on with its operations.

Türkiye's Communications Director, Burhanettin Duran, answered Netanyahu directly. "For an administration and a leader with a record of killing tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, starving children, leveling cities, and trampling international law to try to lecture Türkiye on morality is sheer insolence," he wrote (translated from Turkish).

Duran also pointed to the case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. "For those being tried at the International Court of Justice on genocide charges over Gaza to sling mud at Türkiye, and to target President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is one of the greatest inconsistencies in history," he said, adding that Türkiye would "continue to be the voice of the oppressed."

What Erdoğan said

The exchange followed Erdoğan's address earlier in the day to the parliamentary group of his Justice and Development (AK) Party, where he set out a sharp line on Israel's conduct in the region. He said Israel had threatened peace, stability, and security in the region since its founding, and that the occupation of Palestinian land and the killing of Palestinians were continuing.

The war in Gaza, which Türkiye and a number of other governments describe as a genocide and over which Israel faces a case at the International Court of Justice, has killed nearly 73,000 Palestinians and injured more than 173,000 since October 2023, most of them women and children, according to Palestinian figures. Despite a ceasefire that took effect on 10 October 2025, the Israeli army has killed at least 978 Palestinians and injured 3,097 others in near-daily attacks, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Erdoğan said Israel had attacked Iran and begun operations in Lebanon at the same time, and had refused to withdraw from Lebanon despite objections from Türkiye and other regional countries. He put the toll in Lebanon since 2 March at 3,700 killed and 11,400 injured. He also accused the Israeli government of trying to destabilize African countries and the Mediterranean.

Erdoğan said Syria and Lebanon were independent states that also lie within Türkiye's "geography of affection and brotherhood," and called Damascus and Beirut "sister cities" of İstanbul. "Türkiye's security begins not in Hatay, but in Aleppo, Damascus, and Beirut," he said. "We will not tolerate any fait accompli in our brothers' countries, and we will not turn a blind eye to any attack against them."

Addressing those he said were threatening Türkiye, Erdoğan continued: "We know your intentions, your goals, and what you are pursuing. We are fully aware of the ultimate aim of the delusion of the Promised Land. By the will of God, we will never allow it."

A Hitler comparison

Erdoğan drew an explicit comparison with the lead-up to World War II. "Eighty-five years ago, silence and inaction in the face of Hitler led to the loss of 80 million lives around the world," he said. "Today the same mistake is being repeated. The genocides of the Gaza butcher Netanyahu and his cabinet are being watched with the same silence and indifference once shown toward Hitler."

He warned that the consequences would not stay within the region. "When the fire grows, it does not only burn the region. The sparks fall everywhere," he said. "Just as the whole world is now paying the price of the deadlock at Hormuz, if Israel's banditry is not stopped, the entire region and all of humanity will bear the cost. Israel must be stopped. This is the duty of humanity. History must not be allowed to repeat itself."

Erdoğan praised Spain's position in Europe, calling it "a historic responsibility for other countries to show the courage and good sense that Spain has shown." He closed with a message of solidarity to people in Gaza and Lebanon, saying Türkiye had always stood with them and would continue to do so.

Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean

Erdoğan said Türkiye was closely watching attempts to ignite new tension in the Eastern Mediterranean and on Cyprus. He criticized what he called small actors "whose ambitions far exceed their size," which he said had aligned with Israel's regional policies and chased "pipe dreams" in the Eastern Mediterranean.

"No one should seek adventure. No one should follow in the wake of the Zionist massacre network," he said. "If Türkiye's rights and the rights of the Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean are targeted, I want it to be known that our response will be very clear and very harsh."

Cyprus has been divided by a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite repeated UN efforts to reach a settlement. Ethnic attacks beginning in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at union with Greece led to Türkiye's intervention as a guarantor power, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was founded in 1983. A 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece, and the UK ended in failure. The Greek Cypriot Administration joined the European Union in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots rejected a UN settlement plan.