During his recent visit to Israel, US Vice President JD Vance was asked about Turkey’s potential role in post-war Gaza. His answer was diplomatic: “What troops are on the ground in Israel is going to be a question the Israelis have to agree to… We think everybody has a role to play here… We’re not going to force anything on our Israeli friends, but we do think there’s a constructive role for the Turks to play.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s response the next day struck a different tone. Quoting Vance’s remark that he had “strong opinions” on the matter, Netanyahu smiled and said, “You want to guess what they are?” His office later removed all ambiguity: “There will be no Turkish troops deployed in Gaza.”
That unequivocal statement must be Israel’s redline – despite the American administration’s willful blindness to Turkey’s behavior toward the Jewish state.
With Egypt, Jordan, and others being offered security roles in Trump’s Gaza plan, one might ask why Netanyahu is so adamant about excluding Turkey. After all, it’s a NATO member that had long maintained formal ties and trade with Israel. But that relationship has been in freefall since October 7.
The Turkish issue
According to the Middle East Media Research Institute, Turkey was Israel’s fifth-largest trading partner until May 2024, when Ankara abruptly ended all imports and exports. By August 2025, it had banned Israeli vessels from its ports, blocked Israeli aircraft from its airspace, and barred Turkish ships from docking in Israel.
Those are not the actions of a friendly nation. Nor is Turkey’s policy of allowing Iranian arms and money to move through Istanbul to the Houthis in Yemen.
Erdogan's rhetoric and actions
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan makes no secret of his sympathies. On October 25, 2023 – barely two weeks after Hamas’s massacre – he declared, “Hamas is not a terrorist organization. It is a liberation group, mujahideen [holy warriors], waging a battle to protect its lands and its people.”
A few days later, he doubled down: “We will never shy away from voicing the truth that Hamas members are resistance fighters.” In September 2024, he escalated again, calling Israel “a terror state” and describing Gaza as “the world’s largest children’s and women’s cemetery.”
Erdogan has hosted Hamas leaders in Istanbul, granted Turkish passports to Hamas operatives, and allowed the terror group to fundraise and plan from Turkish soil. This is not neutrality; it’s state sponsorship of terrorism.
Even as Washington talks about a “constructive role” for Ankara, Erdogan is already using his influence to marginalize Israel. Turkish officials recently bragged that they prevented Netanyahu from attending the Sharm el-Sheikh summit on Gaza, boasting that Erdogan “would not be in the same photo frame or at the same table as Netanyahu.”
The result: Israel was excluded from a major regional forum about Gaza’s future solely because of Turkey’s insistence.
Such behavior should serve as a warning regarding Ankara’s conduct if given a foothold inside Gaza. If Erdogan already wields veto power to exclude Israel from discussions, imagine what he would do with boots on the ground.
Turkey's IHH
In reality, Turkey already operates in Gaza through a government-backed NGO called the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation. The problem is that the IHH is no neutral charity. According to Jean-Louis Bruguière, former head of the EU and US Treasury’s terror-financing task force, the IHH has “clear, long-standing ties to terrorism and jihad.”
Its record is long and sordid. It was investigated in the 1990s for aiding Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda in plots against US airports. German authorities banned its local branch in 2010 for funding Hamas. Israel listed it as terror-linked after the Mavi Marmara incident – the supposed “humanitarian” flotilla that turned violent when armed activists attacked Israeli commandos.
Subsequent investigations traced IHH weapons shipments to Syrian jihadists in 2012 and 2016. Even a Turkish police report confirmed that the IHH moved arms and fighters for al-Qaeda affiliates – until Erdogan’s government suppressed the inquiry. The European Parliament described the IHH as providing “financial and logistical support to radical Islamic terrorist networks.”
Yet today, the IHH operates freely in Gaza, distributing “aid” under Turkish flags. It’s an Islamist network masquerading as humanitarian relief – a Trojan horse for Erdogan’s ambitions.
A neo-Ottoman quest
The Turkish leader’s goal is not reconstruction but domination. As Iran’s proxies surrounding Israel have been decimated, Turkey has been positioning itself as the next regional hegemon.
Erdogan even compares Gaza to earlier Turkish interventions. In July 2024 he boasted, “Just like we entered Karabakh, just like we entered Libya, we might do similar to Israel.” Those “entries” were not peacekeeping missions; they were military invasions.
The message is unmistakable: Erdogan sees Gaza as the next front for projecting Turkish power – another step in his neo-Ottoman quest for regional dominance.
Vice President Vance’s desire to include all “constructive” players is well-intentioned. However, Turkey’s record makes it anything but constructive. Its government glorifies Hamas, finances jihadist networks, and blocks Israel from the very tables where its own future is discussed.
Given Washington’s relationship with Erdogan, Israel may have to tolerate some Turkish participation, but it must be limited strictly to financial contributions under US oversight.
If the international community is serious about peace, it must recognize this truth: Turkey under Erdogan is not a stabilizing force but a destabilizing one.
Any operational or security role for Ankara – troops, “peacekeepers,” or NGO proxies – must be a non-starter.
The writer is executive director of Israel365action.com and host of the Shoulder to Shoulder podcast.