Israel Blasts Turkey’s Erdogan for Comments at UN Libeling Jewish State
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by Benjamin Kerstein
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan holds up a map as he addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City, Sept. 24, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Lucas Jackson.
Top Israeli officials slammed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday for a series of comments he made libeling the Jewish state.
A report from Turkey’s Anadolu news agency said that Erdogan told a delegation of American Muslims on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that “when we look at the Nazi murder of the Jews, we see the massacre in the Gaza Strip from the same perspective.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz hit back, tweeting, “There is no other way to interpret Erdogan’s crude and vile words — it is anti-Semitism, clear cut. This is proof that the responsibility of #HolocaustRemembrance is more relevant now than ever.”
There is no other way to interpret Erdogan’s crude and vile words – it is antisemitism, clear cut. This is proof that the responsibility of #HolocaustRemembrance is more relevant now than ever.
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) September 24, 2019
And during a rambling speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday in which he attacked Israel several times, Erdogan claimed, “This year, 490 children were killed and 3,000 injured as a direct target of the most modern and murderous weapons in the Gaza Strip of Palestine.”
“Children playing on the beaches, running around in parks, taking refuge in mosques and schools, curling up in their mothers’ bosom for safety, were mercilessly killed in front of cameras and before the eyes of the world,” he charged.
There were no major military operations in the Gaza Strip this year, making Erdogan’s numbers unlikely, and the IDF explicitly forbids deliberately targeting civilians.
Later on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu published a video blasting Erdogan.
“He who doesn’t stop lying about Israel, slaughters Kurds in his own country and denies the terrible slaughter of the Armenian people, shouldn’t preach to Israel,” Netanyahu said. “Erdogan, stop lying.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, referring to President Erdogan’s remarks:
“He who doesn’t stop lying about Israel, slaughters the Kurds in his own country, and denies the terrible slaughter of the Armenian people – shouldn’t preach to Israel.
Erogan, stop lying.” pic.twitter.com/jtpLpVAscf— PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) September 24, 2019
