The Prime Minister defends the action of the IDF in Gaza on Friday, and rejects criticism from Turkey’s Erdogan, “who for years has bombed civilian populations indiscriminately.”
By: Steve Leibowitz, World Israel News
Referring to condemnation by Turkish President Recep Trayyip Erdogan of IDF actions on the Gaza border on Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement on Sunday declaring, “The most moral army in the world will not be lectured by someone who for years has bombed civilian populations indiscriminately.”
Speaking during a press conference in Paris alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, Netanyahu said, “I am not used to receiving lectures about morality from a leader who bombs Kurdish villages in his native Turkey, who jails journalists, who helps Iran go around international sanctions, and who helps terrorists, including in Gaza, who kill innocent people. That is not the man who is going to lecture us.”
Erdogan said he, “strongly condemns the Israeli government for its inhumane attack,” referring to the deaths of Palestinian rioters on the Gaza border on Friday, 10 of whom the IDF proved were Hamas terror operatives or commandos. He wrote on social media, “Israel will get trapped under the oppression it inflicts in Palestine. We will continue to support our Palestinian sisters and brothers in their rightful cause until the very end.”
On Saturday Netanyahu issued a statement praising IDF troops for “guarding the country’s borders” after a mass Gaza border riot led to violent clashes that left 15 Palestinians dead. As noted, most of the dead were known members of Hamas military wing or other Palestinian terrorist groups. “Respect to our soldiers who are guarding the country’s borders and allowing Israeli citizens to celebrate the (Passover) holiday in peace. Israel acts vigorously and with determination to protect its sovereignty and the security of its citizens,” he wrote.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians took part in the mass protests on Friday on the Gaza side of the border fence, which included many violent attacks. The army said the protesters fired shots, threw firebombs and rocks at soldiers and rolled burning tires at them, as they sought to breach or damage the border fence.