Report: Turkish-Backed Groups Seek to Prosecute IDF Soldiers

Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism released a study today (Wednesday) stating that Turkey is working to prosecute Israeli soldiers on false allegations of committing "war crimes."

According to the information, the organizations WOLAS and Freedom Watch Platform, which ostensibly present themselves as "civil society" organizations, operate advanced systems to locate IDF soldiers and civilians with dual citizenship. These systems are being used to advance legal proceedings against them, with the knowledge of the Turkish government.

The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism said in a statement: "In recent years, Turkey has established a state mechanism under which antisemitism, delegitimization, and legal warfare against Israelis take place at a high level of intensity as part of an orderly, preplanned policy directed by the country’s leadership and its institutions."

"The Research Division of the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism reveals in its studies that this mechanism is embedded in the education and religious systems through organizations operating in the international arena against IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians, seeking to accuse them of war crimes."

According to the study, the Turkish government is not content merely with publicizing media "accusations" against Israel, but operates through nongovernmental organizations against Israeli citizens with Turkish citizenship, doing everything in its power to prosecute them on false claims of committing "war crimes." The suspicion is that the two Turkish civil organizations maintain ties with terrorist organizations, including Hamas.