Israel accuses Turkish PM of fuelling anti-Semitism

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has accused Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of fuelling anti-Semitism in a report prepared by the ministry’s Political Research Centre. The report claims that Ankara realized what message Israel was directing towards Turkey when the Turkish ambassador was humiliated publicly during his meeting with the Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon, a couple of weeks ago.

Haaretz newspaper said that the 7-page report cited the humiliation as one way the country has made it clear to Turkey that there must be a limit to its criticism of Israeli actions in Gaza. The accusation was included that Mr. Erdogan does not hesitate to use anti-Semitic terms in his speeches and he thus, indirectly, fuels anti-Semitism.

---

According to the report, Israel is adopting a “good cop – bad cop” approach to Turkey, with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and his deputy, Danny Ayalon, pursuing a tough line towards bilateral relations, while Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Minister of Trade and Industry Binyamin Ben-Eliezer work towards improved relations using a moderate stance.