ISTANBUL: Turkey on Tuesday denounced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “blatant racism” after he called Israel the nation-state of “the Jewish people” only, not all its citizens.
Turkey and Israel often have tense relations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who regards himself as a champion of the Palestinian cause, a vocal critic of Israeli policies.
“I strongly condemn this blatant racism and discrimination,” presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin wrote on his official Twitter account both in Turkish and English.
“1.6 million Arabs/Muslims live in Israel. Will the Western governments react or keep silent under pressure again?” he asked.
In campaign mode before April 9 elections, Netanyahu said all citizens including Arabs had equal rights but referred to a deeply controversial law passed last year declaring Israel the nation-state of the Jewish people.
“Israel is not a state of all its citizens,” Netanyahu wrote in response to comments from an Israeli actress.
“According to the basic nationality law we passed, Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people — and only it,” he said, in comments that made waves in Israel.
Israel and Turkey in 2016 ended a rift triggered by the Israeli storming of a Gaza-bound ship that left 10 Turkish activists dead and led to a downgrading of diplomatic ties.
Netanyahu has been accused by critics of demonizing Israeli Arabs, who make up some 17.5 percent of the population, in a bid to boost right-wing turnout for April polls.
He is facing a tough challenge from a centrist political alliance led by former military chief of staff Benny Gantz and ex-finance minister Yair Lapid.
Turkey slams Israeli PM Netanyahu’s ‘blatant racism’
Turkey slams Israeli PM Netanyahu’s ‘blatant racism’
- Israel passed a controversial law on citizenship last year
- Israeli-Arabs constitute around 17.5 percent of the population in Israel
Another Palestinian detainee from Gaza dies in Israeli prison
- Hamza Abdullah Adwan died on Sept. 9 last year, with no additional details provided by the Israeli army in response to a request regarding his fate
- The Ministry of Health announced on Sunday the death of Shaker Falah al-Jaabari, 58, who was shot by Israeli forces in Hebron on Saturday night
LONDON: Palestinian detainee Hamza Abdullah Adwan, 67, has died in an Israeli prison, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner's Society confirmed on Sunday.
Adwan, from the Gaza Strip, died on Sept. 9, 2025. No additional details were provided by the Israeli army in response to requests by the two rights groups regarding his fate.
Adwan was detained at the military checkpoint in Gaza on Nov. 12, 2024. He was married and the father of nine children, two of whom were killed before the war in Gaza in late 2023. He had serious health issues, including heart disease, requiring ongoing medical care.
Adwan is one of more than 100 prisoners and detainees who have died in Israeli prisons since the start of the Gaza war. The identities of just 87 have been officially announced, with 51 of them from Gaza. The total number of Palestinian prisoners who have died in Israeli custody since 1967 is now 324, added the groups.
In a separate incident, the Ministry of Health announced on Sunday the death of Shaker Falah Al-Jaabari, 58, who was shot in Hebron on Saturday night.
Israeli forces opened fire on a vehicle in the Khallet Hadour area, east of Hebron, on Saturday evening, seriously wounding Al-Jaabari. He was later detained by the forces, who prevented ambulances and civilians from reaching him, according to Wafa news agency.
