Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a stark warning to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan early Thursday, accusing him of dragging Turkey into "dangerous adventures in Syria" and warning the Turkish leader not to test Israel’s resolve. "Israel will not allow any actor to threaten its security," Katz wrote on X "It would be better for Erdoğan to continue his detached-from-reality, fanciful rhetoric against Israel in the Turkish Grand National Assembly than to attempt to test Israel's determination to defend itself." The warning comes two days after Israel struck Syria’s Abu al-Duhur airbase. The increasingly heated rhetoric has put Washington in the position of trying to contain tensions between Turkey, a NATO member, and Israel, Washington’s closest security partners in the Middle East.
Israel said Syria was on the verge of breaching a security understanding by allowing Turkish troops to deploy there, while Ankara rejected Israel’s account. Syria said there were no plans for a permanent Turkish base or troop deployment, although Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani acknowledged that Turkish military officers had visited the facility for training and exchanges of expertise. Turkey’s Defense Ministry said no Turkish military delegation was present at the base before or during the strike, reported.
CRITICS SAY TURKEY'S VERBAL ATTACKS ON ISRAEL HAVE CROSSED INTO ANTISEMITISM On Wednesday, Turkey called these allegations from Israel "untenable," arguing that they are "intended to legitimize Israel’s unlawful airstrikes targeting Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. ... The imputations voiced stem from Netanyahu’s intent to pursue expansionist and destabilizing policies in the region ahead of the elections in Israel," Turkey's government said in a social media post. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Thursday that Washington was working on "a de-escalation process" that was already in place but still needed to be refined.
Asked whether the dispute could lead to a direct Israeli-Turkish confrontation, Huckabee said, "I don't think we're even close to that." He said Israel viewed Turkey as "moving further south" in Syria and perceived that as potentially threatening. Ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack sounded a sharper warning after the strike. Barrack said Turkey had received no advance notice and could have prepared a military response after detecting Israeli aircraft heading north toward Turkish territory.
He said Washington was working to establish a more robust deconfliction mechanism among Turkey, Israel and Syria to prevent miscalculation or an accidental confrontation. Sinan Ciddi, director of the Turkey Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that Ankara is portraying the confrontation through a sharply different lens. FORMER SYRIAN PRESIDENT ASSAD SENTENCED TO DEATH IN ABSENTIA "Turkey is chalking up the increasingly escalatory climate between Turkey and Israel to election antics/propaganda by Netanyahu and driving a narrative that Israel does not want stable neighbors and regional powers in the Middle East," Ciddi said.
At the same time, Ciddi said Erdogan "seems intent on taking actions inside Syria that are perceived by Israel as military escalation," citing proposed arms sales, military training and assistance, continued Turkish influence over former militia members integrated into Syria’s new army and, most significantly, "developing military bases with Turkish troops and sensitive equipment." "Israel established clear red lines about what it was willing to tolerate in Syria," Ciddi said. "Deconfliction only works if parties implement the agreed upon rules." NETANYAHU WARNS TURKEY SHOULD NOT GET F-35S, CITING ERDOĞAN'S HOSTILITY TOWARD NATO ALLIES The dispute was already being discussed at senior levels before the strike. Mossad chief Roman Gofman spoke with al-Shaibani on Aug. 14, four days before the attack, according to three sources cited by .
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