Turkey has said that it will request Interpol to issue a red notice for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Binyamin Netanyahu's office has responded to this by making several allegations and saying that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is anti-Semitic.
After Israel's attack on Gaza, Erdogan called Netanyahu a war criminal. He had also demanded a case against him.
Turkey on Friday once again appealed for Netanyahu's arrest in a case related to Gaza.
The tension between the two countries has further increased after Israel's attack on a Syrian military base located near the Turkish border on Tuesday.
According to Syrian TV, eight airstrikes were carried out on the runway and a storage center at Abu al-Duhur airbase on Tuesday.
Israel had accused Syria of allowing Turkish troops to be deployed at this airbase.
Syria and Türkiye held the Israeli army responsible for these attacks. Both said that such attacks could further increase tension in the area.
US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barack described the attack as an "unnecessary step to escalate tensions." He said the attack does not advance regional stability.
Israel is a close ally of America and Türkiye is a member of NATO. In such a situation, if tension increases, it will not be easy for America to openly take anyone's side.
Can Israel risk colliding with Türkiye? The answer to this has been given by US Ambassador to Türkiye Tom Barak in a conversation with Israeli journalist Mario Nawafal. Tom Barak said, "Israel had received intelligence that Türkiye could deploy military equipment at an airbase in Syria. Washington investigated and confirmed that this was not happening.
"The concerned parties were informed of this threat, the intelligence input was examined and Syria felt that the matter was being resolved through diplomatic channels." This also included a backchannel conversation that lasted for about two hours between the Syrian Foreign Minister and the Mossad chief. But even after this, Israeli fighter planes reached there and attacked the runway of the airbase without informing Washington or Turkey. From here the matter turned into a situation much more dangerous than another Israeli air strike on Syria.
“Turkey saw the planes coming towards us,” Barak said. They did not know what their objective was or who their target was. In such a situation, the possibility arose for Türkiye that it may have to fly its fighter planes also.
When Ambassador Barack was asked why Israel would take such a big risk, he gave two possibilities behind it. "First, the communication system between Mossad, the Israeli army and Netanyahu's office may have completely broken down. second chances? "Israel was provoking Turkey." My guess is towards the second possibility.
According to Ambassador Barak, Israel wants that such military bases should not exist in Syria which could hinder its access to Iran. In his words, Syrian airspace provides Israel with "a clear line of sight to Iran."
Turkey has said it will request Interpol to issue a red notice for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a domestic criminal case related to the attack on workers trying to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Interpol issues a Red Notice requesting law enforcement agencies around the world to locate, extradite, or temporarily arrest a person pending further legal action.
Interpol reviews the requests sent by member countries and then decides to issue a red notice.
"Arrest warrants have been issued against Netanyahu and another accused," Turkish Law Minister Akin Gurlek wrote on the social media platform X. Many charges have been leveled against them including genocide, crimes against humanity and torture. This case is related to the targeting of 35 people by Israel in international waters.
In May, Israeli forces fired on at least two ships of the Global Sumud Flotilla heading towards Gaza. This fleet was making another attempt to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Even before this, Israel had stopped such aid missions in international waters.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz has said that according to several reports, more than 70 Turkish citizens were included in this flotilla stopped by the Israeli army.
According to the newspaper, Türkiye's Law Minister said that Türkiye will use all legal means to hold Israel accountable for its crimes in Gaza.
The purpose of this step of Türkiye is to encourage officials of other countries besides Türkiye to arrest Netanyahu.
However, even if Interpol issues a red notice, it does not mean that it will be mandatory for any country to arrest Netanyahu.
On this Turkish initiative, Netanyahu's office strongly condemned Türkiye and its President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Israel's Prime Minister's Office wrote on social media platform
The statement said Erdogan was trying to "extend his aggression against Israel to Syria" but Israel "will not tolerate this."
In November 2025, Turkey issued arrest warrants against 37 senior Israeli officials on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.
These included Netanyahu, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli Army Chief Eyal Zamir and Navy Commander David Salama.
The Turkish Law Ministry did not disclose the names of the remaining 32 Israeli citizens included in the arrest warrant list, but said that they were also senior officials. If all these 37 officers come to Türkiye then they can be arrested.
Meanwhile, tensions between Türkiye and Israel came to the fore after Israeli attacks on Syrian bases on Tuesday.
Earlier this week, Israel attacked Abu al-Duhur airbase in north-western Syria. The attack reportedly occurred shortly after a Turkish delegation visited there.
Israel had said that Syria was coming close to violating existing security agreements with it because it was allowing Turkish forces to establish their presence there.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu said that Israel had warned Turkey that it would not tolerate an increase in Türkiye's military presence in Syria.
He said Israel had "made it clear" to Turkey that it opposes such a presence.
It is believed that he was referring to those attacks for which no Israeli official has officially taken responsibility.
Syria is an Arab country, which shares borders with both countries. Turkey's growing influence in Syria as an ally of President Ahmed al-Sharra after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad from power in 2024 has increased Israel's concerns.
NATO member Turkey has about 900 km long border with Syria. Türkiye was a major party in the 13-year civil war in Syria. It supported anti-Assad rebels and sent troops to Syria several times to stop Kurdish groups.
Türkiye considers these Kurdish groups as a threat to its national security.
Israel says it is concerned about the extremist background of Syria's new rulers. He also says he wants to protect the minority Druze community in Syria, which also has followers in Israel.
Israel's security concerns regarding Syria are among the major issues ahead of the elections to be held there on October 27.
According to news agency Reuters, current opinion polls indicate that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may lose the elections. After the attacks led by Hamas in 2023, their grip and credibility on security issues is still weak.
Middle East affairs analyst Abdulsalam Saleh wrote on X regarding the tension between Israel and Turkey, "Why is Netanyahu being so aggressive? Because the initiatives to build normal relations and the Abraham Accords are coming to an end before their eyes. Netanyahu is not shouting today just because Türkiye's presence in Syria is increasing. But because they are realizing that their big project has ended.
