Erdogan Prays That ‘Zionist Israel’ Be ‘Destroyed and Devastated’

Erdogan Prays That ‘Zionist Israel’ Be ‘Destroyed and Devastated’

Hugh Fitzgerald

Israel’s Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli has just condemned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday (October 29), noting that on March 30, 2025, Erdogan asked that “Zionist Israel” be “destroyed and devastated,” and he accused the Turkish leader of consistently seeking to undermine the Jewish people’s historic bond to Jerusalem. More on Chikli’s condemnation of Erdogan can be found here: “‘Jihadist in a suit’: Chikli slams Turkish President Erdogan over prayer to destroy Israel,” Jerusalem Post, October 20, 2025:

Israel’s Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli condemned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, highlighting a March 30, 2025 prayer in which Erdogan asked that “Zionist Israel” be “destroyed and devastated,” and accusing the Turkish leader of consistently seeking to undermine the Jewish people’s historic bond to Jerusalem.

In a post on X/Twitter, Chikli wrote that the line, “May Allah, for the sake of His name… destroy and devastate Zionist Israel,” was not uttered by Hamas or Hezbollah, but by Erdogan himself during a public prayer. Israeli and international outlets reported at the time that Erdogan, speaking at Istanbul’s Camlica Mosque at the close of Ramadan, used language translated as a call for Israel’s destruction. Israel condemned the remarks.

Chikli described Erdogan as “a sworn enemy of Israel and the West, a jihadist in a suit,” and pointed to earlier statements by the Turkish leader claiming a special Turkish claim to Jerusalem. On October 1, 2020, Erdogan told Turkey’s parliament: “So Jerusalem is our city. Our first qibla…,” a passage widely reported at the time.

He also referenced Erdogan’s September 2025 comments amid a dispute over the ancient Siloam Inscription, when the Turkish president said, “We will not give even a single pebble belonging to Jerusalem to Israel.” Turkish and regional media covered those remarks at the time.

The Siloam inscription is a major archeological find, made in 1880, that provides a text in ancient Hebrew from the 8th century B.C., about the Jews building a tunnel that brought water from the Spring of Gilon outside Jerusalem into the city. The controversy between Israel and Turkey is that the Siloam Inscription is now in the archeological museum in Istanbul, and Turkey will not return it to Israel, nor even let it be put temporarily on display in Israel.

Chikli’s mention of a Turkish presence “on our northern border” refers to the Turkish military presence in northern Syria; the southern border is a reference to Turkey possibly providing soldiers to help secure Gaza when a government of Arab technocrats replaces Hamas.

Along with Qatar, but to a lesser extent, Turkey has provided refuge for some of Hamas’ senior leadership. Israel opposes Turkey’s involvement in locating the bodies of Israeli hostages because the shared task could bring Turkey and Hamas even closer together.

Erdogan, let’s remember, condemned Israel for stopping the Mavi Marmara, a boat that was part of a larger flotilla that in 2010 was dead set on breaking Israel’s blockade of Gaza. He described the Israeli sailors who rappelled down from helicopters to take over the boat as “killers” and demanded reparations from the Israeli government (which were eventually given). Erdogan has also called for a pan-Islamic force to be created to finally destroy the Jewish state, and it was clear that he saw himself as the natural leader of that force. He has also spoken of a future conflict between “the crescent and the cross,” and left no doubt as to which side he was on