Haaretz
By Sam Sokol
September 21, 2023
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced antisemitism as a “crime against humanity” during a meeting with Jewish leaders in New York on Wednesday, adding that he planned on visiting Israel at an undefined date in the future.
The Turkish leader’s remarks came as he was speaking with around 30 Jewish organizational heads affiliated with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations across from the United Nations, which is holding its annual General Assembly this week.
Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Conference of Presidents CEO William Daroff wrote that Erdogan had “reaffirmed his commitment to a stable and fruitful relationship with the State of Israel, as well as his resolve to combat antisemitism, which he referred to as a ‘crime against humanity.’”
The meeting “touched on a host of issues including President Erdogan’s upcoming plans to visit Israel,” Rabbi Marc Schneier of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding recalled in a separate post on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Always a pleasure to spend time with my distinguished friend Turkiye's President @RTErdogan who hosted earlier today a select group of U.S. Jewish leaders at the Turkish House during #UNGA78.
Touched on a host of issues including President Erdogan's upcoming plans to visit Israel pic.twitter.com/RMGxKdqZF0— Rabbi Marc Schneier (@RabbiMSchneier) September 20, 2023
Speaking with Jewish Insider, former Anti-Defamation League chief Abraham Foxman said that the meeting, which was also attended by U.S. Antisemitism Envoy Amb. Deborah Lipstadt, was “the most cordial” that he remembered and that “the rhetoric on both sides was respectful.”
However, other participants who spoke with the New York-based Jewish outlet noted that there were still “issues” which showed a gap between Erdogan and the Jewish community, including the presence of Hamas members in Turkey. In addition, he declined to say if he would pay a visit to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum during any future visits to the United States.
On multiple occasions, Erdogan has made statements widely deemed antisemitic.
In 2021, the U.S. State Department condemned the Turkish leader following a speech in which he used “Jews” and “Israelis” interchangeably.
“They are murderers, these are murderers enough to kill 6-year-old babies,” he said, the Hurriyet newspaper reported. “They are murderers enough to make women crawl on the ground.”
Erdogan, who said U.S. President Joe Biden has “bloody hands,” also claimed that “a Jewish prime minister” had told him on a state visit to Turkey that he enjoyed killings Palestinians, adding that “Attacks by Jews on the Al-Aqsa Mosque have turned into a powder keg.”
Washington’s criticism generated a backlash from the Jewish Confederation of Turkey, the main organization representing Turkish Jews, which said at the time that it was “unfair and reprehensible to imply that President Erdogan is antisemitic.”
Erdogan has often called Israel and Israelis “child killers,” and in 2014 called a protester against his internal policies “seed of Israel.”
Last September, Erdogan met with then-Prime Minister Yair Lapid on the sidelines of that year’s general assembly, the first time that leaders of the two countries have held face-to-face talks since 2008.
Their meeting came on the heels of Jerusalem’s announcement of Irit Lillian as the new ambassador to Ankara, the first ambassadorial level Israeli envoy since 2018, when Turkey ordered the previous Israeli ambassador in Ankara to leave the country, after the killing of Palestinian protesters by IDF soldiers along the border with the Gaza Strip.
Bilateral relations began to thaw in the first half of 2022 when Erdogan said Wednesday that he believes Israel and Turkey are entering a new era of mutual ties after meeting with President Isaac Herzog in Ankara during the first visit by an Israeli leader to Turkey since 2008.
Erdogan also spoke out against antisemitism during that meeting, using the same language as during this week’s meeting with Jewish leaders in New York.
Netanyahu, who also met with Erdogan in New York on Wednesday, had been slated to visit Turkey this summer but had to postpone his visit after undergoing a pacemaker implantation procedure at Sheba Medical Center.
Jonathan Lis and JTA contributed to this report
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