- Turkey requested Interpol red notices for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu over genocide charges tied to a Gaza aid flotilla raid.
- The case also targets 35 defendants, including Israeli official Afek Moskovitch, for crimes against humanity, torture, and hijacking.
- Israel dismissed the move as a PR stunt, calling Erdogan an antisemitic dictator, while citing Turkey’s crackdown on dissent.
- The legal action follows rising military tensions between Turkey and Israel over Syria, including an Israeli airstrike on an Idlib airbase.
- The warrants are largely symbolic, but a red notice could complicate travel for Israeli officials, signaling growing international isolation.
Turkey escalated its long-running feud with Israel on Friday by requesting Interpol red notices for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of genocide and crimes against humanity tied to Israel's May interception of an aid flotilla bound for Gaza. The move, announced by Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek, marks the latest chapter in a deepening rift between the two countries that now threatens to spill into military confrontation over Syria.
Ankara's request follows domestic arrest warrants issued July 14 by Istanbul's 11th High Criminal Court against Netanyahu and Israeli official Afek Moskovitch, part of a case naming 35 defendants. The charges stem from Israel's May operation against the Global Sumud Flotilla, a convoy of roughly 50 vessels carrying nearly 500 international activists that Israeli naval forces intercepted in international waters, firing on at least two ships before detaining and deporting participants.
Genocide charges tied to the flotilla raid
Gurlek announced the development in a post on X, saying the Justice Ministry had formally asked Turkey's Interior Ministry to pursue the international arrest notifications. The case alleges a broad range of offenses including genocide, crimes against humanity, torture, unlawful deprivation of liberty, intentional injury, property damage, aggravated robbery and hijacking.
"We categorically reject the notion that the Netanyahu administration, which is implementing a genocide policy in Gaza, is untouchable and unaccountable," Gurlek wrote. "We will not allow the crimes committed in Gaza to be covered up or the perpetrators to be shielded by impunity."
The flotilla interception provoked international outcry, with France, Italy and Australia launching their own judicial proceedings. Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir drew further criticism after posting a video of himself berating flotilla activists who had been restrained with their hands tied behind their backs.
This is the second time in roughly a year that Turkey has sought Netanyahu's arrest; Ankara issued a domestic warrant in 2025 tied to International Criminal Court proceedings against Israeli leaders.
Israel dismisses the case as political theater
Netanyahu's office called the Turkish move a public relations stunt rather than a legitimate legal proceeding. "Erdogan's pathetic attempt to intimidate the leaders and soldiers of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East, will go nowhere," the office said, referring to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Israeli officials went further, calling Erdogan an "antisemitic dictator," pointing to alleged violence against Kurdish populations, ties to Hamas, the occupation of northern Cyprus, and the jailing of journalists and political opponents. The statement also accused Erdogan of trying to extend Turkish "aggression against Israel" into Syria.
Syria tensions add to the standoff
The legal move comes amid rising military tensions between the two countries over Syria. Israeli airstrikes this week destroyed an airbase in Idlib province that Israel said could host Turkish troops; Damascus denied any such plan, and the base is believed to have been abandoned since Bashar al-Assad's 2024 fall. Washington also criticized the Israeli strike. Ankara has suggested Israel's rhetoric is tied to its parliamentary elections set for October.
A mostly symbolic gesture... for now
Turkey's warrant is unlikely to touch Netanyahu directly; Israeli leaders were already avoiding travel to Turkey given the countries' years-long rift. But a red notice, if granted, asks police worldwide to locate and detain a wanted individual, meaning it could complicate travel for other Israeli officials abroad — although Interpol's own vetting process means approval is far from guaranteed.
Whatever Interpol ultimately decides, the case is one more sign of how isolated Israel's government has become internationally over its handling of Gaza, and how few of Washington's own allies are still willing to publicly stand behind it.
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