Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has warned that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could end up like former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who was toppled and executed by a US-backed coalition, if he attempts to intervene in the Gaza war.
Erdogan traded threats with Israeli officials on Sunday over the IDF's ongoing military operation in Gaza, as well as rapidly escalating tensions with Lebanese-based armed group Hezbollah. Speaking at a rally in his hometown of Rize, Erdogan suggested that Türkiye could “enter” Israel in order to help the Palestinians.
“We must be very strong so that Israel can’t do these ridiculous things to Palestine,” Erdogan said. In the past he has condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza to those of Nazi Germany – and likened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
Katz responded with a warning of his own on X (formerly Twitter). “Erdogan is going down the path of Saddam Hussein and threatens to attack Israel,” he wrote, adding that the Turkish leader “should just remember what happened there and how that ended.”
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid also blasted Erdogan, calling him a “danger to the Middle East” and a “wannabe dictator.”
“The world, and especially NATO members, must strongly condemn his outrageous threats against Israel and force him to end his support for Hamas,” Lapid wrote on X.
Saddam Hussein was overthrown during the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. He went into hiding, but was eventually caught by US troops, convicted by an Iraqi court of crimes against humanity, and executed by hanging in 2006.
The US under President George W. Bush claimed at the time that the Iraqi leader had connections to Al-Qaeda – a group behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks – and had weapons of mass destruction. Both claims later turned out to be false, but Washington used them as rationale for attacking Iraq, despite having failed to secure the approval of the UN Security Council.