Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has addressed the question of whether a military conflict between his country and Turkey is possible, infohub.kz reports. He made the remarks in a public comment cited by NUR.KZ, citing Minval.
According to the outlet, Netanyahu said Israel had already tried to prevent the expansion of Turkey's military presence in Syria. C14 News reports that Ankara intended to establish a foothold at one of Syria's air bases, but Israel blocked the move.
Netanyahu expressed hope that a direct clash with Turkey could be avoided, stressing that he is working to that end. At the same time, he acknowledged disagreements with US President Donald Trump over the Turkish leadership.
Netanyahu previously presented a new Israeli security doctrine envisaging a shift from a policy of containment to actively preventing threats, including through preemptive action. Although Turkey is not mentioned directly in the document, Israel's actions in Syria are consistent with the provisions of the new strategy.
Turkey and Israel previously exchanged heated statements. Israel's Foreign Ministry said at the time that the Turkish president had "destroyed democracy" in his country, supported Hamas and "invaded other countries." In response, Turkey's Foreign Ministry accused the Israeli diplomatic service of lying and spoke of the "rotten mentality" of the Israeli authorities.
It was also reported that Netanyahu is preparing a lawsuit at the International Criminal Court against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.