Netanyahu’s invitation to the Gaza summit was canceled after Erdogan’s warning.
US President Donald Trump’s plan to invite Benjamin Netanyahu to the international Gaza conference in Sharm el-Sheik was canceled after strong opposition from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan had announced during the flight to Egypt that his plane would not land on Egyptian soil if Netanyahu attended the meeting.
The meeting, which will be attended by more than 20 world leaders and co-hosted by Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, is being held. Trump is said to have asked al-Sisi to invite Netanyahu to the meeting in a phone call on Monday morning.
However, Netanyahu backed down after Erdogan called al-Sisi from the plane to express his objection, the Guardian wrote.
Sources close to the Israeli regime say that domestic pressure also played a role in the decision, as some far-right figures in the ruling coalition had threatened to resign if Netanyahu traveled to Egypt.
At the same time, the AFP news agency reported that Iraqi sources had also stated that if Netanyahu traveled to Sharm el-Sheik, the country’s Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, would leave the Sharm el-Sheik summit.
Erdogan is said to have refused to land in Egypt after reports that Netanyahu would attend the Sharm el-Sheik summit. Erdogan’s plane was circling over the Red Sea and only landed after Netanyahu canceled his attendance at the summit.