Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan early Thursday, saying Turkey is pulling itself into dangerous actions in Syria and telling him not to test Israel’s strength.

Katz posted on X that Israel will not let any group threaten its safety. He added that it would be better for Erdoğan to keep his unrealistic, fanciful talk against Israel in the Turkish parliament than to try to test Israel’s resolve to protect itself.

The warning follows Israel’s strike on Syria’s Abu al‑Duhur airbase two days earlier. The heated words put Washington in a tough spot, trying to keep peace between Turkey, a NATO ally, and Israel, its closest Middle East security partner. Israel says Syria was close to breaking a security deal by letting Turkish troops operate there, while Ankara denies Israel’s claim.

Syria said it has no plan for a permanent Turkish base or troops, though Foreign Minister Asaad al‑Shaibani said Turkish officers had visited the base for training and knowledge exchange. Turkey’s Defense Ministry reported no Turkish delegation was at the base before or during the strike, according to Reuters.

Critics say Turkey’s verbal attacks on Israel have moved into antisemitism.

A satellite picture shows craters on the runways of Abu al‑Duhur airbase near Aleppo, Syria, after an Israeli strike on August 19, 2026. (Pleiades Neo © Airbus DS 2026/Handout via Reuters)

Turkey called Israel’s accusations “untenable,” saying they aim to legitimize Israel’s illegal airstrikes that violate Syria’s sovereignty. The Turkish government said the claims come from Netanyahu’s push for expansionist and destabilising policies before Israel’s elections, posted on social media.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Reuters on Thursday that Washington is working on a de‑escalation process that already exists but still needs refinement. When asked if the dispute could lead to a direct Israeli‑Turkish clash, Huckabee said he does not think they are close to that. He added Israel sees Turkey moving further south in Syria, which it finds potentially threatening.

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack gave a sharper warning after the strike. Barrack said Turkey got no advance notice and could have prepared a military response after spotting Israeli aircraft heading north toward Turkish territory. He said Washington is trying to set up a stronger de‑confliction system among Turkey, Israel and Syria to avoid miscalculations or accidental fights.

Sinan Ciddi, director of the Turkey Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that Ankara is showing the clash through a very different view.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and Defense Minister Israel Katz attend a meeting. (GPO)

Ciddi said Turkey blames the rising tension between Turkey and Israel on election propaganda by Netanyahu and pushes a story that Israel does not want stable neighbours and regional powers in the Middle East.

Ciddi added that Erdoğan appears determined to act in Syria in ways Israel sees as military escalation, pointing to proposed arms sales, training, aid, continued Turkish influence over former militia members now in Syria’s army, and especially the building of Turkish military bases with troops and sensitive equipment.

Israel set clear red lines about what it will tolerate in Syria, Ciddi said. De‑confliction only works if all sides follow the agreed rules.

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Syria’s president Ahmed al‑Sharaa and Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdoğan hold a joint press conference at the Presidential Palace in Ankara on February 4, 2025. (Cagla Gurdogan/Reuters)

The dispute was already being discussed at senior levels before the strike. Mossad chief Roman Gofman spoke with al‑Shaibani on August 14, four days before the attack, according to three Reuters sources. The talk focused on Israel’s worries about Turkey’s military presence in Syria, including possible troop deployments, weapons sales and drones given to the Syrian army.

Preventing an Israeli‑Turkish clash is not new. Turkey and Israel began technical talks in Azerbaijan in 2025 to avoid misunderstandings or military incidents in Syria. Turkey’s defense minister said in June 2025 that these contacts continued as Ankara trained and advised Syria’s military.

Ciddi argued that a mechanism alone would not stop further Israeli action if Ankara keeps pushing against what Jerusalem sees as its security red lines.

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Decommissioned Syrian air force planes are seen at the Abu Duhur military airbase east of Idlib after Syrian opposition fighters took the area on December 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam, File)

Ciddi said if Ankara pushes boundaries and tries to place military capabilities that Israel feels threaten its safety, Jerusalem may take pre‑emptive action. He added the ball is in Erdoğan’s court to keep the temperature down.

Netanyahu also faces criticism inside Israel. Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, a long‑time opponent, accused the prime minister on Wednesday of deliberately raising tensions with Turkey for political gain before the Israeli election.

Barak wrote on X in Hebrew that Turkey is not Iran or Assad’s Syria, and that Israel’s strategic disputes with Ankara could be solved, softened or delayed through discreet diplomacy coordinated with the United States.

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Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan speaks at a rally supporting Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing Israel‑Hamas conflict, in Istanbul on October 28, 2023. (Dilara Senkaya/Reuters)

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C., and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz for comment.

Efrat (Effie) Lachter is a Fox News Digital reporter with over 15 years covering conflict, global affairs, human rights and political accountability. She has directed and produced more than 200 documentary pieces in over 40 countries, documenting wars, humanitarian crises, corruption, human trafficking, gender‑based violence and the human stories behind major world events.

Lachter’s reporting has taken her to conflict zones across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa. Her work includes exposing human‑trafficking networks, revealing an ISIS underground torture prison in Syria, covering the war in Ukraine and interviewing senior political figures and world leaders. She was among the Western journalists who entered Russia after the war began to bring testimonies from Putin’s opposition. Lachter received the 2022 Peres Center for Peace Award, was a 2023‑2024 Knight‑Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan, won two Rockower Awards for Excellence in Reporting, and holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and a master’s in political science.