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

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the preparation of a potential legal case against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to a report by Middle East Eye. The interministerial team and a senior Justice Ministry official were instructed to prepare the case following Erdogan's announcement that Turkey had requested Interpol to issue a red notice for Netanyahu.

Israel could pursue the case through the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which has already issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza since October 2023. Alternatively, Israel may use the proposed case to pressure Erdogan, focusing on allegations related to Israel's relationship with Hamas and Kurdish groups amid a renewed peace process between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

The report comes in the wake of Netanyahu's speech to the UN General Assembly, where he referred to Erdogan as a "tyrant," a response to which a Turkish official called Netanyahu's remarks "desperate and empty attempts" to cover up Israel's alleged genocide in Gaza and ongoing attacks in the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and elsewhere.

Brief written by urgent.news from Middle East Eye's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.