Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that Israel’s strikes in Syria and Lebanon have reached a point where they also threaten Turkey, adding that Israeli “aggression” poses a threat to the whole world and must be stopped.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit back by accusing the Turkish leader of being an “antisemitic dictator” unfit to criticize Israel.

Israel says it is acting against the ongoing threat posed by the Hezbollah terror group in south Lebanon, and argues that the terms of the ceasefire there allow it to do so.

Israel has carried out strikes in Syria since the overthrow of former president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 — most recently in March of this year — while also initiating unprecedented dialogue with the new authorities. It says the strikes were necessary to destroy the former regime’s military equipment and prevent it from falling into the hands of hostile elements.

Speaking to lawmakers in parliament, Erdogan also claimed there were initiatives led by Israel to destabilize the Mediterranean region and warned that “nobody should chase adventures” or join Israel’s “boat of mischief.”

“The attacks by [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his network of murder on Lebanon and Syria have brought the issue to a point where it also threatens Turkey,” Erdogan told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party in parliament, and added that Ankara’s security was tied to that of those two countries.

Erdogan also said Israel was leading a “sneaky effort” to destabilize African countries and the Mediterranean by igniting “the fire of discord” on the ethnically split island of Cyprus.

“These small........

© The Times of Israel