Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Image by Getty Images

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit back after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the “spirit of Hitler …  has found its resurgence among some of Israel’s leaders,” in criticizing the country’s nation-state law.

“The Jewish Nation-State Law is proof, with no room for doubt, that Israel is the world’s most Zionist, fascist and racist state,” Erdogan said in a speech Tuesday to his ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP.

“This Israeli understanding is no different from Hitler’s search for a pure race,” he also said.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Shortly after Erdogan’s statements were reported and tweeted out by his office Netanyahu responded, calling Erdogan’s criticism a “compliment.”

“Erdogan is massacring Syrians and Kurds and has jailed tens of thousands of his citizens. The fact that the great ‘democrator’ Erdogan is attacking the Nation-State Law is the greatest compliment for this law,” Netanyahu said in the statement.

“Turkey, under Erdogan’s rule, is becoming a dark dictatorship whereas Israel scrupulously maintains equal rights for all its citizens, both before and after the law,” he also said.

Erdogan last week accused Israel of apartheid in passing the legislation which enshrines Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

President Erdoğan: “The ‘Jewish Nation-State Law’ is the proof, with no room for doubt, of Israel’s being the most fascist and the most racist state in the world.

After this regulation, Israel has nothing left to say about fascism and racism as well as their repercussions.” pic.twitter.com/qQclQE2WSt

— Turkish Presidency (@trpresidency) July 24, 2018

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount