Turkey will stand by the Palestinians with all the resources at its disposal, and "will never allow Jerusalem to be stolen by Israel," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Wednesday at a dinner on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The Turkish president addressed the high number of Palestinian casualties in the violent clashes with Israeli forces along the Gaza border – many of whom were Hamas operatives, the organization admitted Wednesday – and said that Turkey would make an effort to bring wounded protesters from Gaza to Turkish hospitals for treatment.
"Even if the whole world shuts their eyes, we will not allow Israeli cruelty. We will continue to be with our Palestinian siblings not only with our hearts, but with all our resources," he said.
"In the face of all these events, the United Nations has ended. [It has] become exhausted and collapsed," Erdogan said.
"If Israel's bullying is met with more silence, the world will rapidly be dragged into a chaos where thuggery prevails."
Turkey has been among the most vocal critics of the Israeli use of deadly force against protesters at the Gaza border and of the U.S. decision to open its new embassy in Jerusalem.
Erdogan even said he had taken steps to "spur" Turkey's friends on the U.N. Security Council into demonstrating aggression toward Israel.
Meanwhile, following Erdogan's expulsion of Israeli Ambassador to Turkey Eitan Naveh on Wednesday, Israel protested Naveh being subjected to "unbecoming treatment" in the form of a public pat-down at the airport that was broadcast on Turkish media.
Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel called "the intentional humiliation of the Israeli ambassador in Turkey, on camera ... a serious incident."
Gamliel said Israel must not ignore the incident.
MK Tzipi Livni said that when she was serving as foreign minister, she had given Erdogan a choice of being part of the international community or joining the Hamas camp.
"We need to bring him back to that same moment of choice and use the leverage we have through the Americans on Turkey," Livni said.
Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel on Wednesday called a halt to Israeli agricultural exports to Turkey over Erdogan's decision to expel the Israeli ambassador and his ensuing anti-Israel comments.
"We will not extend our hand to a country that hypocritically preaches morality to Israel," Ariel said.
"[Israeli] security forces and IDF soldiers are risking their lives to protect the residents of Israel, and President Erdogan is preaching to the world while funding terrorist groups like Hamas," the minister added.
On social media, some users expressed their opposition to Israel importing produce, such as tomatoes, from Turkey.
Secretary of the Israel Vegetable Growers Association Meir Yifrach said Wednesday that representatives of his organization had met with Ariel following Erdogan's latest accusations against Israel.
"We must not reward Turkish agriculture. From now, we are not importing tomatoes or vegetables from Turkey, but we are taking care that Israeli agriculture is not harmed. If there is a shortage, we will import from other places, and if the price is high we will manage," Yifrach said.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that in response to the treatment of Naveh, it had summoned the charge d'affaires at the Turkish Embassy in Israel.
