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| Netanyahu has faced an ICC arrest warrant since November 2024, even as he prepares a case against Erdoğan. (netanyahu-icc-arrest-warrant-erdogan-case.jpg) |
Benjamin Netanyahu has told his government lawyers to build a criminal case against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the International Criminal Court. The same court has had an arrest warrant out for Netanyahu since November 2024.
That is the irony sitting at the center of the latest Israel-Turkey explosion. And the people behind the plan may not even want the case filed.
What Netanyahu Actually Ordered
According to an exclusive from Israel's i24NEWS, published Sunday, Netanyahu instructed an inter-ministerial team and the head of the Justice Ministry's International Law Department to begin preparing a legal case against Erdoğan. The file would focus mainly on Turkey's treatment of its Kurdish minority, with a second thread on alleged Turkish government funding and hosting of Hamas.
The report says Israel could take the case to The Hague itself, but a proxy is the more likely route. Then comes the twist: Israeli sources told i24NEWS they hope they never have to file at all. The real goal, they said, is to hold the case over Erdoğan's head as leverage and a deterrent.
Netanyahu's office and the Justice Ministry declined to comment. Everything here rests on unnamed sources, and no ICC filing has been reported.
The Legal Problem: The ICC Can't Easily Touch Erdoğan
Neither Israel nor Turkey is a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the ICC. That is a serious obstacle. Under the treaty, a referral from another country would not by itself give the court jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed inside Turkey by a Turkish national.
In plain terms, even if a friendly country carried Israel's dossier to The Hague, the court would still face the question of whether it has any power to act. That is why many observers read this as a pressure tactic rather than a genuine legal strategy.
How Israel and Turkey Got Here
This did not come out of nowhere. The past two months read like a ladder of escalation.
July 14: An Istanbul court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israeli official Afek Moskovitch over Israel's interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a Gaza-bound aid convoy carrying roughly 430 activists that Israel stopped in May. The case names 35 defendants and includes charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and torture.
August 18-19: Israeli jets hit the runway of the Abu Duhur air base in Syria's Idlib province with eight strikes. Israel said it was stopping Turkish troops from deploying there. A Turkish official denied any Turkish presence and accused Israel of inventing pretexts. Even Washington's own ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, called the strike an "unnecessary escalation."
August 21: Turkey asked Interpol to issue red notices for Netanyahu and Moskovitch. Netanyahu's office answered by calling Erdoğan an "antisemitic dictator."
September 24: At the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu called Erdoğan a "tyrant" who hosts Hamas leaders, killed Kurdish civilians, denies the Armenian genocide and jails journalists. He also raised Turkey's occupation of northern Cyprus. Dozens of delegates walked out during the speech. Ankara dismissed it as baseless.
September 26: Erdoğan fired back, saying war criminals wanted by the ICC belong in courtrooms, not on the UN podium.
September 27: i24NEWS broke the story of the ICC case.
Why Now? Look at the Calendar
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| Netanyahu reportedly ordered officials to prepare an ICC case against Erdoğan over Kurds and alleged Hamas funding. (netanyahu-orders-icc-case-against-erdogan.jpg) |
Israel votes on October 27. Netanyahu is fighting for another term, and Turkey has become a centerpiece of his campaign. In August, a Likud billboard on Tel Aviv's main highway put Erdoğan alongside the leaders of Iran and Hezbollah as people who want Netanyahu to lose.
Erdoğan has made the same connection from the other side. In an interview with Newsweek, he said the narrative portraying Turkey as a new threat has been fueled in Israel and is linked to Israel's domestic politics and electoral climate. He added that Turkey has no hostility toward the Israeli people and does not build its foreign policy around inevitable war scenarios.
Even Barrack has suggested the rhetoric between the two men could be driven by domestic political calculations. Reporting from Axios also said some senior US officials believe the Syria strike was partly motivated by Israel's elections.
None of that proves the ICC order is an election stunt. But a tough move against Turkey, a familiar villain for Israeli voters, four weeks before the vote is hard to ignore.
The Kurdish and Hamas Charges: What's Behind Them
The two allegations at the heart of the file are not equal in weight.
On the Kurds, Turkey's conflict with the PKK began in 1984 and has killed more than 40,000 people. Human rights groups have criticized Ankara for years over its treatment of Kurdish politicians and activists. Human Rights Watch's 2026 report says Turkey has yet to ensure equal rights for Kurds and highlights the continued imprisonment of former pro-Kurdish party leaders Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ.
But the timing is awkward for Israel's argument. Turkey is currently running a renewed peace process with the PKK, and parliament passed its first law under that initiative in August. Critics will ask why Israel is suddenly the champion of Kurdish rights.
On Hamas, the facts are less disputed. Erdoğan received a Hamas delegation at the presidential complex in January 2025. Turkey does not designate Hamas as a terrorist organization, while the United States and the European Union do. Erdoğan has described the group as a resistance movement. Turkey dismissed Netanyahu's UN accusations as baseless and an attempt to distract from Gaza.
Washington may matter more than The Hague. Donald Trump has kept close ties with both men, and Netanyahu knows it.
Netanyahu has been lobbying against a possible US sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, warning that it would upset the regional balance of power. Trump, standing beside Erdoğan at the NATO summit in Ankara in July, praised him warmly, then softened his tone the next day by saying no final decision had been made on the jets.
Barrack's public rebuke of the Syria strike added to the sense that the Trump administration is less willing than in the past to simply back Israel's moves against Turkey. For Netanyahu, building a legal file on Erdoğan may be one way to change the conversation in Washington.
The Wider Chessboard
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| Turkey asked Interpol in August for a red notice for Netanyahu over the Gaza flotilla case. (erdogan-interpol-red-notice-netanyahu.jpg) |
The feud is bigger than two leaders. Israel has signed a major defense agreement with Greece, while Turkey has joined a mutual defense pact with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Netanyahu talks about a "hexagon of alliances" including Greece, Cyprus, India and the UAE, and Ankara sees encirclement.
Both countries are close US partners, and outside powers have little interest in seeing a NATO member clash directly with Israel. Regional analysts say neither side appears to want a direct confrontation. That is exactly why a legal weapon is so tempting: it hurts without firing a shot.
What to Watch Next
Whether Israel files anything. The reporting suggests preparation is the point, not a filing.
Interpol's decision. Interpol reviews requests before issuing a red notice, so whether Netanyahu is actually listed is still an open question.
Turkey's next legal move. More warrants or new cases against Israeli officials would keep the pressure on.
The October 27 election. The rhetoric could cool or heat up depending on the result.
Washington's F-35 decision. It could reshape the balance between Israel and Turkey more than any court.
The Bottom Line
Two leaders who accuse each other of crimes are now using international law as a weapon against each other. Netanyahu wants a case he may never file. Erdoğan wants a warrant that may never be enforced. Both are playing to home audiences, and both know the courts are not really the point.
The ICC was built to end impunity, not to serve as a prop in a rivalry between two governments. Whether it becomes one depends on whether anyone actually walks through its doors.