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

What Happened

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an interministerial team and a senior Justice Ministry official to prepare a possible 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. Israel could 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, but i24NEWS said Israel is more likely to pursue the case through a third party, if it files one at all, and could use the proposed case to pressure Erdogan. The case would focus on Israel’s allegations concerning Erdogan’s government’s relationship with Hamas and Kurdish groups, amid a renewed peace process between the 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”; 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.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The reported legal preparations escalate the Israel-Turkey diplomatic and legal confrontation, already strained over the Gaza war and the ICC arrest warrant against Netanyahu. A case centered on Erdogan’s government’s ties to Hamas and Kurdish groups would draw the ICC into a politically charged Israel-Turkey dispute at the same time Ankara is pursuing a renewed peace process with the PKK, while Turkey’s Interpol request adds legal pressure on Netanyahu.

Watch For

Monitor whether Israel makes any formal filing at the ICC or through a third party, whether Interpol acts on Turkey’s red notice request, further Turkish government statements responding to Netanyahu’s UN remarks, and any developments in the Turkish government-PKK peace process that could affect the legal case’s framing.