Netanyahu orders preparation of possible legal case against Erdogan, report says

Netanyahu orders preparation of possible legal case against Erdogan, report says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered an interministerial team and a senior Justice Ministry official to prepare a legal case against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, i24NEWS reported on Sunday.

The order followed Erdogan’s announcement that Turkey had asked Interpol to issue a red notice for Netanyahu, the report said.

Israel could itself seek to bring the case before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024 on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Gaza since October 2023.

Israel is, however, more likely to pursue the case through a third party, if it filed one at all, the report said, adding that it could instead use the proposed case to pressure Erdogan.

The case would focus on Israel’s allegations concerning Erdogan’s government’s relationship with Hamas and the Kurdish groups, amid a renewed peace process between Turkish government and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The report follows Netanyahu’s speech to the UN General Assembly on Friday, in which he called Erdogan a “tyrant”.

In response, a Turkish official called Netanyahu’s remarks “desperate and empty attempts” to cover up "Israel’s genocide" in Gaza and its ongoing attacks on the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and elsewhere.