Netanyahu Targets Turkey Amid Election and Syria Tensions

The article describes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s effort to portray Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a new threat to Israel while campaigning for re-election on October 27. After more than two years of military confrontation with Israel’s regional adversaries, Netanyahu is reportedly focusing on Turkey as he faces a difficult electoral contest and seeks to rally voters around his leadership. The immediate trigger is an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday against a base in northern Syria, located a short distance from the Turkish border. Netanyahu said Turkey was attempting to establish a military presence in the area and claimed Israel had acted after Ankara ignored Israeli warnings. He said the strikes were intended to make Israel’s position unmistakable. Netanyahu’s campaign has reinforced this message through billboards showing several foreign leaders, including Erdogan, beneath the slogan “They want Netanyahu to lose.” The campaign presents Netanyahu as the leader best able to confront Israel’s enemies and protect the country from external threats. Erdogan has strongly condemned Israel’s extensive military offensive in Gaza, which followed Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack. Relations between Israel and Turkey have also deteriorated because of Israel’s forceful interception of activist flotillas departing from Turkey and attempting to deliver aid to Gaza. However, Turkey presents a more complicated challenge than some of the other countries Netanyahu has targeted, particularly Iran. Turkey is a NATO member and Erdogan maintains a close relationship with US President Donald Trump. The US ambassador to Ankara criticized Israel over the strikes, underscoring the diplomatic risks of escalating the dispute. Overall, the article frames Netanyahu’s confrontation with Turkey as both a strategic response to developments in Syria and an election-oriented attempt to consolidate his voter base.

As Israel’s Oct 27 election approaches, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is increasingly portraying Turkey as a threat, adding Ankara to the list of regional adversaries featured in his campaign. The focus intensified after Israeli warplanes struck a base in northern Syria on Aug 18, near the Turkish border. Netanyahu said the attack was intended to make Turkey understand Israel’s opposition to any Turkish military presence in the area. Netanyahu’s campaign has displayed billboards featuring Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan alongside other leaders, under the slogan “They want Netanyahu to lose.” Erdogan has strongly condemned Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, supported Hamas, and allowed Hamas leaders to reside in Turkey. Relations have also worsened over Turkey’s opposition to Israel’s interception of aid flotillas bound for Gaza. However, Turkey differs from other countries targeted by Israel because it is a NATO member and maintains close ties with the United States, including with President Donald Trump. Israeli opposition figures have condemned the Syria strike as provocative and politically motivated. They warn that Netanyahu’s actions could bring Israel closer to a confrontation with Turkey while further damaging relations with Washington and other allies. Analysts suggest Netanyahu may be using anti-Turkish rhetoric to consolidate his political base amid criticism that his wars have failed to achieve major objectives, including the destruction of Hamas or the overthrow of Iran’s Islamic Republic. Turkey’s objectives in Syria include preventing Kurdish militancy from spilling across its border, rebuilding Syria’s economy so refugees can return, and strengthening its regional position against Greece, Cyprus and Israel. Ankara supports Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose forces ousted Bashar al-Assad in late 2024. Syrian observers say the country must avoid becoming a battleground for competing powers and use the Turkish-Israeli rivalry to restore its sovereignty. Although Turkey and Israel both claim to support Syrian stability, they have sharply different definitions of what that stability requires.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said Syria had assured Israel that there were no plans to establish a Turkish military base or a permanent Turkish military presence at Abu al-Duhur airbase. Israel struck the facility on Tuesday, August 18, amid concerns in Israel about growing Turkish military involvement in Syria. According to al-Shaibani, the base was being rehabilitated for use by the Syrian Air Force and was largely empty and not yet operational. Turkish military officers had visited it for training and broader military cooperation, but he denied that Turkey was building up forces there. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had warned Syria not to permit a Turkish presence at the base, adding that Israel believed Syria had failed to understand the warning. Al-Shaibani rejected Israel’s justification for the strike, arguing that the bombing was illegitimate. Despite the attack, al-Shaibani said Syria remained willing to negotiate with Israel on de-escalation. He said the two countries had made substantial progress toward a security agreement during a year of United States-mediated discussions, but claimed Israel subsequently withdrew from its commitments and the agreement was never implemented. Any future arrangement, he said, would need to address the security concerns of both countries while respecting Syrian sovereignty. He also warned that continued Israeli military operations could worsen instability across the region.