Tensions between Jerusalem and Ankara escalated sharply over the weekend after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared that the struggle against “Zionism” is a matter of national survival for Turkey, prompting a blistering response from Israel’s Foreign Ministry and a vow from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring the matter to Washington’s attention.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting in Ankara, Erdoğan described Zionism as a “genocidal, occupying, expansionist ideology” that threatens not only him personally but “everyone,” framing his opposition to Israel as a matter of his nation’s survival. The remarks continue a pattern of escalating rhetoric from Erdoğan toward the Jewish state since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry responded forcefully in a post on X, calling Erdoğan a “dictator” who persecutes political opponents, imprisons journalists, and backs jihadist groups, while noting that Israel had “extended its hand in peace to Lebanon just yesterday” — a reference to the US-brokered framework agreement between Jerusalem and Beirut signed in Washington on Friday. The ministry’s statement concluded pointedly: “Erdoğan will pass. Israel will remain forever.”

Netanyahu addressed the matter directly at a cabinet meeting, saying Israel takes Erdoğan’s repeated calls for the country’s destruction with the utmost seriousness. “Hardly a day goes by without Erdoğan calling for the annihilation of the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said, adding that history has taught the Jewish people to take such threats at face value. He said Israel would draw the attention of its American allies to the remarks, stressing, “we are not ignoring them.”

The diplomatic rupture comes as Turkey, despite being a NATO member, has maintained ongoing contacts with Hamas and suspended trade with Israel throughout the Gaza war, stopping short of a full break in relations. Analysts have noted that Erdoğan’s language increasingly mirrors the rhetoric long employed by the regime in Tehran rather than that expected from a Western alliance member.

In a separate but related development, Israel’s government voted Sunday to formally recognize the mass killings of Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks carried out by Ottoman Turkish forces in the early twentieth century as genocide. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the move a “moral and historical duty,” stating that Israel must reject denial, minimization, and distortion of the historical record. The resolution is expected to advance next to the Knesset for further legislative action.

Israel had for years withheld formal recognition of the Armenian genocide, largely out of consideration for its relationship with Ankara. That diplomatic restraint had been predicated on Turkey maintaining at least the appearance of a constructive regional role — a posture that has steadily eroded amid Erdoğan’s escalating hostility toward Israel.