Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected on Friday Turkey's request to Interpol to issue an arrest warrant against him, calling it a "pathetic attempt to intimidate the leaders and soldiers of Israel".
In a statement, Netanyahu criticised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom he described as an "antisemitic dictator who has massacred the Kurds, harbours Hamas terrorists, occupies half of Cyprus and imprisons a record number of opposing journalists and politicians". The Israeli leader added that Turkey "intends to extend its aggression against Israel to Syria" and that "Israel will not tolerate it".
Netanyahu alluded to a purported Turkish attempt to relocate troops to a military airport in Idlib, in north-western Syria, for which Israel bombed the installation in the early hours of 19 August. Both Turkey and Syria deny that such a deployment was to take place.
Turkey's Ministry of Justice formally requested from Interpol an international arrest warrant against Netanyahu and other senior officials of the Israeli government, according to Justice Minister Akin Gürlek. The measure follows arrest warrants issued on 14 July by Istanbul's 11th High Criminal Court.
According to Gürlek, the court is trying Netanyahu and 34 other defendants in absentia, including military officer Afek Moskovitch, on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and torture, arising from the boarding of the Sumud Global Fleet in international waters, which was carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
