Dailymotion on April 12 released a video explainer telling how disinformation over Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatening to invade Israel had gone viral.

It reported: “A viral video is spreading panic online, claiming that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to attack Israel if Pakistan fails to establish peace [hosting talks between the US and Iran over ending the Iran war]. But the truth is very different.

“Fact-check investigations reveal that the claim is completely false. The viral clip is taken from a real speech, but it has been edited and misrepresented. In the original video, Erdogan was condemning Israel’s strikes in Lebanon — not announcing any military action.”

Also on April 12, the Turkish foreign ministry released a formal statement describing Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu as the “Hitler of our time”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and several of his officials have in recent years several times talked of Netanyahu as a “Hitler”. Turkey’s leader has also described him as a “psychopath”, “maniac” and “vampire”.

This week Erdogan, who has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and has repeatedly expressed anger over Israel’s continued bombardment of Syria, has also described Netanyahu as “blinded by blood and hate”, according to The Telegraph.

The weekend also saw an announcement that Turkish prosecutors have filed indictments against 35 top Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, seeking a total of more than 4,500 years in prison.

The individuals were charged with crimes against humanity, genocide, torture and unlawful deprivation of liberty, Turkish state-run news service Anadolu Agency reported.

Akin Gurlek, the Turkish justice minister, called the indictment “historic”.

Netanyahu responded in a social media post that Erdogan had “massacred his own Kurdish citizens” and was guilty of “accommodating Iran’s terror regime and its proxies”.

Israel Katz, the Israeli defence minister, posted remarks, including: “Israel will continue to defend itself with strength and determination – and [Erdogan] had better sit quietly and shut up.”

In July 2024, Katz, then foreign minister, advised Erdogan to recall what happened to Saddam Hussein. Around the same time, Erdogan threatened Israel with military action.

Despite his regular biting criticism of Netanyahu, Erdogan comes under fire from critics for giving US President Donald Trump a free pass. He has said nothing about Trump’s part in opting to launch a bitter US-Israel war against Iran, instead concentrating on Israel’s lobbying of Trump to go to war and, in the past week, warning that Israel would look for any opportunity to sabotage the peace talks.

Erdogan’s Turkey is sometimes accused of serving as a US proxy. IntelliNews wrote last October how, after Israel “bulldozed” Gaza, “Washington’s local proxies, namely Turkey, Egypt and Qatar, then helped Hamas to surrender. Now, they will build ‘Trump town’ in Gaza. The oil-rich among the proxies will finance this real estate project.

“All else is, unfortunately, nonsense, though one open question is whether or not a war in Iran will be staged.

“Throughout the whole process that has unfolded around Gaza, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has once again played a vital role. It was Erdogan who once more was the champion of on-camera insults thrown at Israel’s PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, during the slaughter, and it was Erdogan who assisted in delivering the Hamas surrender process as Trump geared up for his big day as the peacemaker.”

Like Israel, Turkey has ambitions to become a pivotal player with telling influence right across the Middle East.

Between Turkey and Israel lies Syria. The Turks and Israelis have competing ideas of the type of post-Assad Syria they want to see. There have been no military clashes between Turkey and Israel in Syria (only clashes between their respective allies), though after the December 2024 fall of Bashar al-Assad caused by an offensive mounted by Turkey-backed militia, Israel made sure to bomb airfields in Syria that Turkey was looking at as possible military bases.