Tensions between Israel and Turkey rose Monday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan traded barbs and a senior Israeli minister said that the 2016 reconciliation between Jerusalem and Ankara may have been "a mistake."
The war of words between Netanyahu and Erdogan was sparked when the Turkish leader accused Israel of using "disproportionate force" against "peaceful protesters" in Gaza during Friday's Hamas-orchestrated march.
Seventeen people, 10 of them known terrorists were killed and 1,400 others were wounded in the border riots.
"I strongly condemn the Israeli government over its inhumane attack," Erdogan said during a speech in Istanbul.
"Israel will get trapped under the oppression it inflicts in Palestine. We will continue to support our Palestinian sisters and brothers in their rightful cause until the very end," he said.
Dismissing the criticism, Netanyahu tweeted, "The most moral army in the world will not be lectured to by those who for years have bombed civilians indiscriminately. I guess Ankara, too, marks April Fools' Day."
This apparently vexed Erdogan, who then called Netanyahu a "terrorist."
"We don't have the shame of invasion on us, Netanyahu. You are an invader and right now are present in those lands as an invader. At the same time, you are a terrorist."
He later said Israel was "a terrorist state. It is known what you have done in Gaza and what you have done in Jerusalem. You have no one that likes you in the world."
In response, Netanyahu tweeted that Erdogan "is not used to being answered back to. He should get used to it. Someone who occupies northern Cyprus, invades the Kurdish regions, and slaughters civilians in Afrin – should not preach to us about values and ethics."
Commenting on the spat, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said Monday that in hindsight, it seems the 2016 rapprochement between the two nations should not have been approved.
Once close regional allies, Israel and Turkey froze diplomatic ties after a deadly 2010 Israeli Navy raid on a flotilla trying to breach the Gaza blockade, in which 10 Turkish nationals were killed.
The 2016 reconciliation deal stipulated that Israel would pay $21 million in restitution to the victims' families and the countries would restore full diplomatic ties.
Speaking with Army Radio Monday Erdan lambasted "the anti-Semitic Erdogan, who continues to support Hamas."
He said Israel must "stand up to the hostility and anti-Semitism of Erdogan. It's odd for a country such as Turkey, which is massacring the Kurds and occupying northern Cyprus, to be accepted as a legitimate nation by the West."
He noted that he had "always had issues" with the 2016 deal with Turkey, saying that he was still "uncomfortable" with his vote.
Stressing that his reservations were his own Erdan said, "Looking back, maybe the accord should not have been approved, but … I'm speaking with the benefit of hindsight. Israel doesn't have the luxury of refusing a rapprochement with one of the Middle East's top powers."
Also on Sunday, Jordan and Egypt condemned the violence on the Gaza border Friday, as both Amman and Cairo urged Israel to "cease its aggression" toward Palestinian protesters.
"The path to peace runs through the Palestinians' right to their own state," the Jordanian and Egyptian foreign ministers said in a joint statement.
France on Sunday urged Israel to show restraint when dealing with protests on the Israel-Gaza Strip border.
"France reminds the Israeli authorities of their duty to protect civilians and urges them to show the greatest restraint," a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said in a statement.
"France also highlights the Palestinians' right to peacefully demonstrate," she added.
