JERUSALEM — December 4, 2025 — In the shadow of Turkey’s growing threat to Israel and the West, the Israeli Knesset yesterday held a historic floor debate on confronting this imminent danger. The action followed an urgent motion submitted by MK Ohad Tal (Religious Zionism), co-chair of the Knesset Eastern Mediterranean Cooperation Caucus.
MK Tal warned the Knesset that Turkey under Erdoğan is “rapidly and powerfully becoming a threat that, in the not-so-distant future, could be much greater even than the Iranian threat.”
MK Tal’s speech in English is here.
MK Tal’s speech in Turkish is here.
“Today, Turkey is a stronger country than Iran—economically, militarily, and diplomatically,” MK Tal stated. “It is a member of NATO, enjoys legitimacy in Washington, and maintains good relations with Beijing. At the same time, beneath its Western veneer, Turkey harbors a strong Islamist fundamentalist element that is only growing stronger.”
MK Tal emphasized four urgent policy priorities:
- Hamas sanctuary: Turkey provides shelter, legitimacy, and funding to Hamas, whose political leadership operates from Istanbul and Ankara.
- IMEC corridor obstruction: Ankara is promoting competing corridor projects to undermine the U.S.-led India-Middle East-Europe Corridor that would pass through Israel.
- F-16 sales opposition: Turkey’s request to purchase advanced American fighter jets poses a direct threat to Israel and NATO allies Greece and Cyprus.
- Energy infrastructure threats: Turkey is obstructing Israeli gas exports to Europe via Cyprus and Greece, challenging maritime rights in the Eastern Mediterranean.
MEF’s Decade-Long Campaign Against Turkey Vindicated
MEF played a key role in establishing the Knesset Eastern Mediterranean Cooperation Caucus and in sparking today’s debate.
MEF founder Daniel Pipes first declared Turkey “an ally no more” in October 2009, and in 2011 warned prophetically: “If Iran is today the Middle East’s greatest danger, Turkey is tomorrow’s.”
Testifying before Congress in June 2025, MEF director of policy analysis Michael Rubin called Turkey a “hub for Hamas” and urged its designation as a state sponsor of terror. MEF director of research Jonathan Spyer published groundbreaking investigative work in 2022 exposing Turkey’s secret network of prisons in Syria holding over 8,000 Syrians, findings referenced in the U.S. House Appropriations Bill of 2024.
At the Delphi Economic Forum in April 2025, MEF executive director Gregg Roman called for the Israel-Greece-Cyprus partnership to be “solidified in a formal defense alliance backed by the United States,” stating: “Turkey’s role in hosting Sunni terror groups is analogous to Iran’s role in hosting their Shia equivalents.”
Turkish Media Attacks Confirm MEF’s Influence
In response, Turkey has lashed out at MEF, with Turkish state broadcaster TRT World claiming MEF is part of a coalition targeting Turkey. Pro-government newspaper Daily Sabah labeled Daniel Pipes “the grandfather of Islamophobia,” and a prominent columnist accused MEF analysts of orchestrating plots against Turkey.
MK Tal warned that “many policymakers in the United States and Europe overlook that Turkey has become an unreliable actor that encourages terrorism against the West and Israel and is politically and economically unstable.”
