Turkey's Fidan eases Israel comments, states 'no reason for open conflict' during F-35 efforts

Fidan highlighted supposed anti-Turkey statements from Jerusalem and targeted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's allies along with some opposition figures.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan joins a discussion with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on regional stability after an interim US-Iran agreement, held at Tahrir Palace in Cairo, Egypt on June 21, 2026.

(photo credit: REUTERS/AMR ABDALLAH DALSH)

ByDANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD

JULY 12, 2026 15:27

Updated: JULY 12, 2026 16:59

“I think there is no reason to have an open conflict,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told The National on Friday, just one week after issuing sharper remarks on CNN Turk that drew sharp rebukes from Israeli politicians who labeled them genocidal.

Pointing to what he called anti-Ankara messaging from Jerusalem, Fidan focused his remarks on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition partners and certain opposition voices, yet maintained that “there are still very sane and good people with wisdom and strategic minds in Israel.”

“Not all of them are like Netanyahu and some people, but Netanyahu and some people, as they get closer to the elections, they need an enemy. They were at war with Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran, and now they need another enemy,” Fidan told the Emirati site, suggesting Ankara was being positioned in that role.

The remarks stood in contrast to his earlier CNN appearance, where he stated: "These people (in reference to Israel) have become a burden that humanity can no longer bear."

"No matter which framework you use, there is no parameter under which these people can be sustained," Fidan said during that prior exchange.

Gallia Lindenstrauss, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies who focuses on Turkish foreign policy, told The Jerusalem Post that the National interview served as Fidan's effort to walk back his prior statements and “distancing his criticism from Israel as a whole to the actions of the current Israeli government.”

“His statement that there are ‘reasonable’ people was especially reassuring that should Israel have another government, things might look different between Israel and Turkey,” she assessed.

The same view was shared with the Post by Istanbul-based geopolitical analyst Burak Can Celik, who explained that Ankara's current sharp tone toward Israel does not indicate “a permanent and irreversible strategic break” from the Jewish state. Instead, in Fidan's view, “security, balance of power and changing regional conditions are as decisive as ideological discourse.”

“Today, the two countries are in a controlled competition. However, while discourses and dynamics change rapidly in the Middle East, geography and common interests are permanent,” he noted. “Before October 7, relations between Turkey and Israel had always been at a good level, with joint collaborations in terms of trade, technology, culture and tourism, so these discourses may be a signal of controlled softness.”

Israel, Turkey clash over F-35 sale

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar condemned Fidan's earlier remarks, claiming they amounted to a “clear call for genocide” and vowed that the words would face a response, adding to ongoing tensions between Israeli and Turkish officials over public statements. The quick change in tone has been linked by some observers to Ankara's broader aims, particularly its pursuit of F-35 fighter jets.

Ankara recently welcomed US President Donald Trump for a NATO summit, during which the president signaled readiness to lift sanctions that have blocked Ankara's access to the fighter jet.

"Turkey has been, in many ways, much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal. ... It's a great plane, it's the best, currently the best plane by far. And it's certainly something we will consider," Trump said, announcing that Washington would be dropping sanctions against Ankara originally placed over Turkey's possession of Russian S-400s.

The matter of Turkey's rhetoric has already drawn attention from a group of bipartisan American lawmakers, who sent a letter to Trump expressing concern over potential F-35 sales given statements by officials and Ankara's ties with Iran.

Israel, a key Washington ally, has also voiced opposition to the NATO member acquiring the F-35s, Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, a Turkey expert at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University, noted to the Post. He suggested that Fidan is attempting to ease Israeli concerns regarding the fighter jet acquisition.

“Unless these statements are accompanied by tangible confidence-building measures, such as ending unilateral sanctions against Israel, halting the systematic delegitimization campaign against it, and restoring people-to-people ties by resuming direct flights between Istanbul and Tel Aviv, they should be regarded as lip service,” Yanarocak argued.