Sa’ar accuses Turkish FM of ‘incitement to genocide’ for saying humanity ‘cannot bear’ Israel

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar accused his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, of incitement to genocide on Thursday after Fidan called Israel a “burden that humanity can no longer bear” and said it was a “problem” for the world.

Fidan made the comments in a TV interview, in which he called for global sanctions on Israel. His comments followed Israel’s recognition this week of the 1915 Armenian genocide, which Ankara denies.

“Israel is not just Turkey’s problem, nor is it just the issue of our president,” Fidan said in the interview, according to subtitles posted by Sa’ar. “But everyone knows it, feels it, whispers it in hidden corners, and occasionally speaks openly. These are humanity’s common problems. This is what we must call it.”

He continued, “These people have become a burden that humanity can no longer bear, with their policies and their mindset. Humanity cannot bear this… I may be the only country raising my voice, but this is a problem for all of you.”

Sa’ar shot back on X, writing that Fidan’s “sickening words are textbook incitement to genocide.”

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The foreign minister added, “Dehumanizing the Jewish people as an ‘unbearable burden’ is the classic, horrific language of history’s worst eliminationist regimes. The civilized world and Turkey’s NATO allies must unequivocally condemn this explicit call for the erasure of Israel.”

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— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) July 2, 2026

Relations between Israel and Turkey collapsed following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack and the subsequent war in Gaza. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a leading critic of Israel, has repeatedly accused it of genocide and has praised Hamas.

Fidan has slammed Israel previously, and said in April that security concerns were “being used by the [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu government as an excuse to occupy more land.”

“This is a fundamentalist government,” he added at the time. “They are a problem for the whole world. This is not just a problem for Turkey.”

Earlier this week, Israel formally recognized the 1915 Armenian genocide for the first time, a move that antagonized Turkey, which denies that the Ottoman Empire committed a genocide against Armenians.

Erdogan said in response that Israel was using the issue to deflect attention from the war with Hamas in Gaza.

“We pay no heed to the slanders directed at our country by the murder network that has the blood of 75,000 innocent people in Gaza, mostly children and women, on its hands,” Erdogan said in remarks to the media following a cabinet meeting in Ankara, according to the state‑run Anadolu news agency.

Some Israeli officials have warned that Turkey, formerly an ally, is increasingly becoming a regional adversary of Israel. Turkey will host a summit of the NATO alliance next week.

Nava Freiberg and agencies contributed to this report.