Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint statement to the media in Baghdad, Iraq, April 22, 2024. Photo: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/Pool via REUTERS

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday for once again comparing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler and accusing Israel of committing “state terrorism” in its campaign against Iran.

“The sultan, in his own eyes, in yet another inflammatory speech, continues to incite against Israel and against the Israeli prime minister,” Sa’ar wrote in a post on X.

“Erdogan, who has set a record in suppressing the freedoms and rights of his citizens, as well as his country’s opposition, dares to preach to others,” the top Israeli diplomat continued.

The Sultan in his own eyes, in yet another inflammatory speech, continues to incite against Israel and against the Israeli Prime Minister.
Erdogan, who has set a record in suppressing the freedoms and rights of his citizens, as well as his country’s opposition, dares to preach…

— Gideon Sa’ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) June 18, 2025

Turkey has been one of the most outspoken critics of Israel on the international stage, even going so far as to threaten an invasion of the Jewish state and calling on the United Nations to use force if Jerusalem fails to halt its military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

“It is particularly ironic that someone who does not hide his imperialist ambitions, someone who invaded northern Syria and illegally holds northern Cyprus, claims to speak in the name of morality and international law,” Sa’ar wrote in his post on X. “A little self-awareness could be helpful.”

During an address to lawmakers from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in parliament, Erdogan said Israel’s military campaign against Iran was illegal and “crazed.”

“Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has long left Hitler behind in terms of genocide,” the Turkish leader said. “It is a very natural, legitimate, and legal right for Iran to defend itself against Israel’s thuggery and state terrorism.”

“We are closely monitoring Israel’s terrorist attacks on Iran,” Erdogan continued.

Last week, Israel launched a broad preemptive attack on Iran — dubbed “Operation Rising Lion” — targeting military installations and nuclear sites across the country in what officials described as an effort to neutralize an imminent nuclear threat.

The ongoing Israeli strikes killed several of Iran’s top military commanders and nuclear scientists and dealt a major blow to the country’s retaliatory capabilities, destroying not only much of its ballistic missile stockpiles but also crippling its launch platforms.

Israel had previously declared it would never allow the Islamist regime to acquire nuclear weapons, as the country views Iran’s nuclear program — which Tehran insists is solely for civilian purposes — as an existential threat.

Iranian leaders have regularly declared their intention of destroying Israel and have for decades supplied internationally designated terrorist groups, such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, with weapons and funding to attack the Jewish state.

Erdogan has frequently defended Hamas terrorists as “resistance fighters” against what he describes as Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, with Turkey long serving as one of the group’s top international backers.

As part of his long history of anti-Israel rhetoric, Erdogan has falsely accused the Jewish state of running “Nazi” concentration camps and compared Netanyahu to Hitler multiple times before.

In March, he threatened to “send Netanyahu to Allah to take care of him, make him miserable, and curse him.”

The Turkish leader has also said that Netanyahu was a “butcher” who would be tried as a “war criminal” over Israel’s defensive military operations in Gaza.

He has also called Israel a “terror state” and expressed solidarity with Iran after it attacked the Jewish state with a barrage of ballistic missiles last year.