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The Israeli army's Turkish-language social media account posted a tank photo using similar phrasing and hashtags to a Turkish Defense Ministry post, in what appears to be a deliberate reference to the Turkish military.
The Turkish Defense Ministry shared a photo of a Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) tank on Dec. 26 with the message "Strong, Brave, Fearless" alongside the hashtags "#MilliSavunmaBakanlığı" (Ministry of National Defense) and "#GününFotoğrafı" (Photo of the Day).
The same day, the Israeli army's Turkish account posted a photo of an Israeli tank with the message "Strong, Determined, Honorable and Professional" using the hashtags "#İsrailSavunmaKuvvetleri" (Israeli Defense Forces) and "#GününFotoğrafı" (Photo of the Day).
The use of the identical "#GününFotoğrafı" hashtag drew attention as an apparent reference to the Turkish ministry's post.
In its latest "Photo of the Day" post, the Turkish Defense Ministry wrote, "Power is not in the weapon! True power lies in the trust the innocent place in you."
Defense analyst Arda Mevlutoglu commented on the issue on X, referencing the film "Munich."
"There's a line in the film Munich where the experienced field agent Carl tells team leader Avner, something like 'people like you are afraid to stop, you feel you have to be constantly moving.' Israel's situation is a bit like this. It doesn't stop, it can't stop. It constantly has to provoke, attack. Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and others," Mevlutoglu said.
"It is in constant need of attacking for the 'illusion of ensuring its security.' It is addicted to war; negotiating in any way, finding common ground, etc. is not possible," he added.
Mevlutoglu also noted that since June, Israeli or Israel-affiliated academics have been spreading the message in various international settings that "Iran is done, Türkiye is next."
"This is also from this madness. A kind of military-technological ecstasy that has permeated all its individuals," he said.
Ali Burak Daricili, a professor of international relations at Bursa Technical University and a retired National Intelligence Organization (MIT) officer, commented on X: "They have fallen apart. They are not governing with reason anymore. They are like adolescent children."
Some social media users also stated that "Israel is in a deep paranoia."
"Has someone in the IDF Spokesperson's Office lost it? Is there a responsible adult in the IDF? Netanyahu's office wasn't enough to mess up relations with Egypt, now the IDF Spokesperson's Office is trolling Türkiye?" an editor at the Israeli media outlet Haaretz, Avi Scharf, commented on X.
This is not the first time an Israeli official Turkish-language account has posted controversial content.
On Nov. 2, 2021, the Israeli Embassy's official Turkish Instagram account shared a screenshot from Zaytung, a Türkiye-based satirical news website.
The headline read: "F-35 negotiations nearing end: Foreign Ministry pushing for $1.4 billion worth of iPhone 13 Pro and AirPods instead of aircraft."
The Israeli Embassy issued a statement the same day claiming the account had been subjected to a "cyber attack."
"We regret to inform that on Nov. 2, 2021, around 22:10, one of our embassy's official social media accounts was subjected to a cyber attack. While our response to the attack continued, some inappropriate content was shared through our account. We inform the public that these posts do not belong to us and express our regret for any negativity and confusion caused by this inappropriate post," the embassy said.
The social media exchange comes amid escalating tensions between Israel and Türkiye over the Gaza war, Syria and the Eastern Mediterranean.
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