Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave an interview to Fox News on Monday, his second in two days, and, against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump's expected visit to Turkey, delivered a message against the possibility that Washington would supply Ankara with F-35 fighter jets or engines for its warplanes.
Netanyahu said in the interview that "Turkey is a big country, but it is ruled by a man who openly calls for Israel's destruction." He said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan "occupies half of Cyprus, a NATO member state, threatens Greece, also a NATO member state, and speaks openly about conquering Jerusalem."
The prime minister also addressed statements made by senior Turkish government officials against Israel. "His foreign minister, his No. 2, said the Jewish state has no place among humanity. In effect, that it should be wiped out. His interior minister said he expects to be governor of Jerusalem," Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu said that "a regime infected by the Muslim Brotherhood, a radical movement that hates America and chants 'Death to America' from this side of the spectrum, should not, in my view, be given F-35s or engines for its fighter jets. That would undermine the balance of power in the Middle East, which is ultimately guaranteed by Israel's air superiority and also by the American position in the region."
The message to Washington
At the same time, ahead of the NATO summit to be held in Turkey with Trump's participation, Israel has conveyed to member states that it expects them to condemn the remarks of the Turkish foreign minister, who described Israel as "a burden on humanity." In a statement in Jerusalem on Monday, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said remarks of this kind required a response.
Sa'ar said, "On the issue of genocide, I must address the shocking remarks made by Turkey's foreign minister. The foreign minister of the country that will host tomorrow's NATO summit said of the state of the Jewish people: 'These people have become a burden that humanity can no longer bear.'"
He said, "This is a sentence that echoes very similar sentences we heard about a century ago. To speak of a people as humanity's problem. And what do you do with a burden that can no longer be borne? These remarks are a clear call for genocide."
