Israel escalated its warnings to Turkey on Thursday over Ankara’s role in Syria, with Defense Minister Israel Katz accusing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of pursuing “dangerous adventures” in the country and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying Israel would not tolerate an expanding Turkish military presence there.
Katz, in a post on X addressed directly to Erdogan and written in Turkish, said Israel would not allow any actor to threaten its security. He said Erdogan would be better advised to confine his criticism of Israel to rhetoric in the Turkish parliament rather than test Israel’s resolve to defend itself.
Netanyahu, in a separate interview, said Israel had passed a clear warning to Damascus in advance of Tuesday’s strikes on the Abu al-Duhur airbase, telling Syrian authorities not to permit a Turkish presence at the site. “Our message was very clear. Don’t. I guess they didn’t quite understand the message,” Netanyahu said. He described the base as largely empty and not yet operational, though he acknowledged Turkish military officers had visited in the days before the strike, which Ankara has characterized as routine training cooperation.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry denied maintaining any military presence at the base and called the Israeli strikes “unacceptable” and “reckless,” saying they threatened regional peace and stability. The ministry said Turkey would continue supporting Syria’s efforts to rebuild its own military infrastructure and protect its sovereignty.
The exchange marks a sharper turn in a dispute that has been building for months as Turkey has expanded its influence in Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024. Ankara has emerged as one of the closest military and political partners to the interim government of President Ahmad al-Sharaa, while Israel has carried out repeated strikes on Syrian military sites it says could otherwise threaten its security.
A former Israeli navy commander said this week’s strike was intended specifically to prevent Turkey from gaining a foothold in Syria, though he assessed a direct military confrontation between the two NATO-adjacent powers was unlikely given Turkey’s NATO membership and its long-standing aspirations for European Union accession.
The two countries set up a communication channel last year aimed at avoiding accidental clashes as both militaries operate in Syrian territory, though Turkish officials said the hotline was not used ahead of Tuesday’s strikes. The U.S., which maintains close ties to both Israel and Turkey, has called the strikes an unnecessary escalation that does not serve regional stability.
