Jerusalem —
The giant billboard on Tel Aviv’s main highway placed Turkey squarely at the center of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s election campaign. The image showed its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, alongside the leaders of Iran, Hezbollah and the mayor of New York City as adversaries of Israel under the slogan, “They want Netanyahu to lose. Don’t let them win.”
Just a few days later, Turkey became the center of Israel’s latest military confrontation as well.
Israeli jets struck the Abu al-Dahar airbase in northern Syria, targeting what officials said was an emerging Turkish military buildup that Israel viewed as a significant threat.
But with elections just over two months away, the strike’s proximity to Netanyahu’s campaign messaging has fueled a debate in Israel and abroad: is Netanyahu preempting a genuine strategic threat or amplifying one to boost his ballot-box standing?
