NATO Member or Enemy State? Israel's Likud Demands the West Wake Up to Erdogan

As tensions with Iran and Hezbollah dominate Israel's security agenda, a Likud lawmaker is sounding the alarm about a threat from a different direction entirely: Turkey.

MK Ariel Kalner (Likud) issued a sharp warning Thursday about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during an interview on Radio Galei Israel, calling on Israel and the broader Western world to fundamentally reassess their relationship with Ankara.

"Right now, the state of Turkey under Erdogan is an enemy state in every sense of the word," Kalner said at the outset of the interview.

The remarks come amid a sustained escalation in Turkish rhetoric toward Israel. Erdogan said Wednesday that Israel's strikes in Syria and Lebanon have reached a point where they also threaten Turkey, adding that Israeli aggression poses a threat to the entire world and must be stopped. Days earlier, Turkey's Interior Minister told party supporters he hoped Jerusalem would one day come under Turkish sovereignty and dominion.

Kalner went further than most in characterizing Erdogan's ambitions, framing them in explicitly ideological terms. "We are dealing with a dictator who seeks to restore the Islamic Caliphate," he said. "He is an extremely dangerous man who hates Israel completely. We must take the threat he represents with full seriousness."

The lawmaker also argued that Israel is not Erdogan's only target, and called on Western governments and alliances to close ranks against Ankara. "The entire free world would do well to look at Erdogan as a threat," Kalner said, urging a unified and tougher posture from Western nations toward the Turkish president's regional moves and statements.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has suggested Israel may soon designate Turkey as its primary adversary, particularly in a post-Iran scenario where Tehran no longer occupies that role.