Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan again lashed out at Israel on Friday, this time criticizing the recently approved Death Penalty for Terrorists Bill.
Erdogan claimed that the legislation is "essentially no different from Hitler’s policies against Jews," as quoted by the Anadolu news agency.
“What is being done is discrimination, it is racism, it means implementing in Israel a worse version of the apartheid regime that was overthrown in South Africa in 1994," the Turkish President charged.
He further asserted that imposing the death penalty only for Palestinian Arabs amounts to "apartheid' and turns law into an "instrument of racist fascism."
Erdogan has been one of Israel’s most vocal critics in recent years and has expressed support for the Hamas terrorist organization, even though Turkey and Israel were close to reconciliation just before the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack.
In March of last year, Erdogan blasted Israel and described it as a "terror state" after it launched surprise strikes on terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip.
Several months later, the Turkish President claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government represents the most significant threat to Middle East security.
In April of 2024, he met then-Hamas political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul. Haniyeh was later eliminated by Israel.
Erdogan said after the meeting that Palestinian Arab unity was “vital" and added, “The strongest response to Israel and the path to victory lie in unity and integrity."
Weeks later, Erdogan boasted of the fact that more than 1,000 members of Hamas were being treated in hospitals across Turkey and also took issue with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ reference to Hamas as a terrorist organization.
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)