Real enemy or election ploy? Turkey emerges as Israel’s ‘new enemy’ ahead of October vote

The giant billboard on Tel Aviv’s main highway placed Turkey squarely at the center of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s election campaign. The image showed its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, alongside the leaders of Iran, Hezbollah and the mayor of New York City as adversaries of Israel under the slogan, “They want Netanyahu to lose. Don’t let them win,” CNN writes.

Just a few days later, Turkey became the center of Israel’s latest military confrontation as well.

Israeli jets struck the Abu al-Dahar airbase in northern Syria, targeting what officials said was an emerging Turkish military buildup that Israel viewed as a significant threat.

But with elections just over two months away, the strike’s proximity to Netanyahu’s campaign messaging has fueled a debate in Israel and abroad: is Netanyahu preempting a genuine strategic threat or amplifying one to boost his ballot-box standing?

Tom Barrack, US President Donald Trump’s envoy to Syria and ambassador to Turkey, issued a rare public rebuke to Israel over the strike, calling it an “unnecessary escalation.” In an interview with podcaster Mario Nawfal, Barrack suggested a political motive, floating a “theory” that Israel “simply tried to bait Turkey.” He called it “a very aggressive move, but one that might play well going into elections.”

Turkey, in turn, accused Netanyahu of “pursuing expansionist and destabilizing policies in the region” ahead of the October vote. The Turkish government said it would continue to cooperate with the Syrian government “on a legitimate basis for the establishment of peace, stability, and prosperity.”