July 7, 2026 | Policy Brief
Ahead of NATO Summit, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Calls Israel an ‘Unbearable Burden’
July 7, 2026 | Policy Brief
Ahead of NATO Summit, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Calls Israel an ‘Unbearable Burden’
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan declared on July 3 that Israel has become a “burden that humanity can no longer bear” and called for international sanctions against the Jewish state. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned the remarks as “textbook incitement to genocide,” warning that depicting the world’s only Jewish state as an intolerable burden evokes the kind of dehumanizing language that has historically preceded violence against Jews. Fidan’s comments come right before Turkey hosts the NATO summit, testing whether the alliance will hold it accountable.
Ankara Escalates Anti-Israel Rhetoric
Fidan’s comments are not an isolated outburst. They reflect Ankara’s increasingly hostile posture toward Israel since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre. Under Erdogan’s leadership, Turkey worked to undermine its bilateral partnership with Israel, beginning in 2009, when Erdogan accused Israeli Prime Minister, Shimon Peres of leading a country that killed Palestinian children. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has likened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler and suggested Israeli leaders should stand trial like Nazi officials.
Erdogan also has a documented track record of supporting terrorist entities, especially Hamas. The Turkish president has described the group as a “liberation movement,” and openly advocates for Hamas to succeed in its terror campaign against Israel. Erdogan and other senior Turkish officials host senior Hamas leaders in Turkey and refuse to designate the organization as a terrorist entity despite its October 7 atrocities. U.S. and Israeli officials have long warned that Hamas operatives have enjoyed sanctuary and access to financial networks in Turkey.
Erdogan’s support for radical actors goes beyond Hamas, including a documented history of backing jihadist entities in both Syria and Libya’s civil wars. Additionally, Turkey maintains close ties with Moscow despite Russia’s war against Ukraine and frequently pursues policies that undermine NATO cohesion and U.S. interests.
NATO Should Not Ignore Incitement
Germany’s foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, called Fidan’s remarks “utterly inappropriate” and reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself. Other NATO members should reinforce Wadephul’s sentiment.
The timing is particularly troubling because Ankara is simultaneously lobbying Washington to re-enter the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program after its 2019 expulsion for acquiring Russia’s S-400 air defense system. Turkey is also seeking access to American-made F-110 engines to power its indigenous KAAN fighter aircraft. Both requests would grant Ankara access to sensitive U.S. defense technology and advance Erdogan’s defense-industrial ambitions. Allowing Turkey to operate both the Russian S-400 air defense system and the F-35 would create an unacceptable security risk by exposing the aircraft to Russian intelligence collection. Any intelligence Moscow obtained could improve its ability — and potentially those of its partners — to detect and defeat the F-35. Given growing defense cooperation among what FDD scholars call the Axis of Aggressors — Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea — such a compromise would endanger U.S. forces as well as allied F-35 operators.
Congress has repeatedly made clear that Turkey cannot rejoin the F-35 program while it retains the S-400 system. Yet Ankara continues to demand concessions despite hosting Hamas operatives, maintaining close ties with Russia, and increasingly cooperating with China in strategic sectors, including 5G telecommunications.
The U.S. Should Respond Firmly
The Trump administration should publicly condemn Fidan’s remarks and encourage NATO allies to do the same. Congress should oppose Turkish reentry into the F-35 program and reject any transfer of F-110 engines.
Turkey seeks the benefits of NATO membership while increasingly behaving like a pariah. Fidan’s remarks are an indication that Erdogan’s government is not merely criticizing Israel’s policies; it is normalizing rhetoric that portrays Israel itself as a problem to be removed.
Sinan Ciddi is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Sinan and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD. Follow Sinan on X @SinanCiddi. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.