Smotrich: “Strengthening the Greek alliance is necessary” against Turkey and Pakistan – “Turkey has a very large navy”

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich described Turkey as a threat that goes beyond the person of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and sent a message about the Turkish Navy as well. Smotrich spoke in an exclusive interview with the Israeli channel Abu Ali Express, which on Monday, October 19 posted the full conversation with English subtitles, also on YouTube.

Asked whether the next threat to Israel could come from Turkey, Smotrich answered: “I’m not at all sure that Erdogan’s successor will be less antisemitic or less dangerous than he is. I’m really not sure.” “That is why we must be prepared for a wide range of possibilities,” the Israeli minister continued. “Turkey has a very, very large navy, and we must analyse the implications of that,” he added, noting: “I don’t want to go into details, if you don’t mind.”

“Strengthening the Greek alliance”

In the same part of the interview Smotrich said Israel does “not turn a blind eye” to the issue of Turkey and Erdogan, but that it cannot develop separate capabilities for each threat, from Egypt and Turkey to Jordan and Syria. “The big challenge in building the force is to develop multidimensional capabilities,” he said, adding that to wage such a war “we must produce huge quantities,” without Israel depending on anyone’s goodwill or on an embargo.

On relations with Saudi Arabia, he said normalisation is “both possible and necessary,” as is the implementation of the IMEC corridor, while he called the strengthening of the Greek alliance “necessary” against the alliance of Pakistan, Turkey and the countries that are against Israel.

Turkey in Israel’s public debate

The reference to the Turkish fleet comes as Turkey appears more and more often in Israel’s public debate as a possible adversary. A few days ago a retired Israeli brigadier general described Turkey as the new threat to Israel, while in Ankara the Greece–Israel talks on the LORA missile caused an uproar.

The domestic part of the interview

The interview covered a series of domestic issues ahead of Israel’s October 27 election. Smotrich called for the cancellation of the Oslo Accords and the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority, which he accused of being behind international legal moves against Israel. He also said that if he joins the next government he will establish within six months 20 settlements and 40 farms in the Negev and as many in the Galilee.

On settler violence in the West Bank, the minister said there is “a group of anarchist troublemakers on our side too,” which in his view must be eradicated, and spoke of a “total failure” of law enforcement. On the Khan al-Ahmar settlement, he said “the keys” to its evacuation are in the hands of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On the cost of living, he admitted there is a “serious problem,” arguing that the government lowered housing prices and that wages rose faster than inflation.