BREAKING NEWS

PM slams Erdogan's 'dark, libelous' denunciation of Zionism

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who for months has held his tongue in the face of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's serial anti-Israel bashing, jabbed back Thursday, labeling "dark and libelous" Erdogan's  characterization of Zionism as a crime against humanity.
Breaking with their practice of not responding to Erdogan's tongue lashings in the hope of not exacerbating ties with Ankara, the Prime Minister's Office issued a statement saying Netanyahu strongly condemned Erdogan's comments and "comparison of Zionism and fascism."
Erdogan, speaking Wednesday before a Vienna forum of the Alliance of Civilizations, a UN framework for West-Islam Dialogue, said, "It is necessary that we must consider -- just like Zionism, or anti-Semitism, or fascism --  Islamophopia as a crime against humanity.
"This is a dark and libelous statement the likes of which we thought had disappeared from the world," Netanyahu said.