'Turkey is the new Iran' & Erdogan seeks to encircle Israel, fmr Prime Minister Bennett declares

Turkey is set to become Israel’s new primary security threat, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned senior American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem this week.

Bennett’s dire warning came as he addressed a meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations’ 51st Annual Leadership Mission.

His description of the rising Turkish threat followed an assessment that Israel’s broader security doctrine had collapsed on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel from Gaza.

“Far too long, too many Israeli leaders believed that we only need to buy time and buy quiet,” Bennett charged, “We have to replace the organizing principle of the past 20 years of containment with an organizing principle of initiative.” 

“We won’t hesitate to operate throughout the Middle East to pursue enemies, to hunt them down, and to secure a future.” 

While the Iranian regime has been Israel’s primary security threat for decades, Bennett said it is now at the “closest moment in history” to collapse.

However, the former Israeli prime and defense minister warned, “Turkey is the new Iran.”

“A new Turkish threat is emerging. I want to be very clear, Turkey and Qatar have gained influence in Syria, are seeking influence elsewhere and everywhere throughout the region.”

The Turkish government has long supported Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and his previous terror group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, which he led to victory over the Assad regime under the name Abu Muhammad al-Jolani.

The State of Qatar has also been a close ally of Turkey, and its emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, was the first head of state to visit Damascus after the regime change, pledging a large amount of funding to rebuild the ravaged country.

Bennett’s drastic warning echoed a well-known prediction by Bernard Lewis, the eminent scholar of the Middle East, who said that after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan rose to power, Turkey and Iran were ultimately destined to switch their regional roles.

With the ayatollahs gone, Iran would come to fulfill the hopes for moderation and friendship with Israel that were placed in Turkey not that long ago, while Erdoğan would lead Turkey down the road of Islamic radicalism in the mold of the Islamic Revolution, Lewis argued.

Bennett described Erdoğan as “sophisticated, dangerous, and he seeks to encircle Israel. We can't close our eyes again.”

He continued, “And while some senior Israelis were on Qatar's payroll, Qatar and Turkey are nourishing the Islamic Brotherhood monster that is growing and eventually might become as dangerous as the one created by Iran, (with)Turkey and Qatar gaining influence not only in Syria but also in Gaza, through the front door and everywhere, and trying to create a new choke ring.”

Bennett, who is seeking to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming elections, has led the charge in denouncing the premier for the Qatargate affair, in which two of his close aides allegedly received funds from Qatar.

He also warned, “Turkey is trying to flip Saudi Arabia against us and establish a hostile Sunni axis with nuclear Pakistan,” referring to reports that Erdoğan considered joining the defense alliance between Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Bennett later shifted his comments into election mode, arguing that the current government has “divided us and is dividing us now, more than ever”, and calling for its replacement.

“I will not let the leadership that failed continue. I intend to lead Israel into its next chapter – stronger.”

“After three decades since coming to power, and after the greatest disaster in Israel's history occurred on his watch, a leader must know when to step down with dignity. Israel is greater than any one person. The next chapter must be written by a new leadership, without those people responsible for the disaster,” Bennett urged.