In a false statement, Ankara claimed that "trade with Israel is done for the benefit of 2.2 million Arabs, and those who live under occupation in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem." 

Israel responded: "It emits an anti-Semitic fragrance". 

"Reports of an increase in exports to Israel were published in several media outlets," reads the official announcement of the Turkish Foreign Ministry. "This claim is baseless." Along with this, it was clarified: "The trade that is done with Israel is not with the Jewish region of Israel. The trade with Israel is done for the sake of 2.2 million Israeli citizens of Arab origin and for those who live under Israeli occupation in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem."

According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, "In total, 8 million Palestinians live on the land of Palestine. 7.2 million Jews live on the land of Israel. All products destined for Palestine must pass through Israeli customs, and are transported there under the name of Israel."

Obviously, this is a false message, which in Israel was even said to have an anti-Semitic flavor due to the blanket denial of trade with Jews.

The Turkish announcement also claimed that in 2022, between October 7 and December 31, the volume of trade between Turkey and Israel was 2.32 billion dollars. On the other hand, it was claimed, between October 7 and December 31, 2023, the trade was 1.28 billion dollars, i.e. a 45% decrease. 

According to the Turkish announcement, exports from Turkey to Israel last year amounted to 980 million dollars, which is a decrease of 39%; and the import on 300 million dollars, which is a decrease of 58%.

Economic factors, who analyze the decrease in the volume of trade between Turkey and Israel - whose political relations are characterized by long-standing fragility - do not recognize a connection between it and the war in Gaza. In fact, the data of the Central Bureau of Statistics indicate that the decrease in the volume of trade between the countries began before the war, along with a decrease in the volume of trade with other countries.

Anti-Semitism in Turkey has skyrocketed in recent weeks, in the shadow of the war in Gaza. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who shows outrage at the attacks on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, recently claimed that he is "no different from Adolf Hitler", and even compared the IDF attacks in the Gaza Strip to the treatment the Jews received from the Nazis. Erdogan even claimed that Hamas is not a terrorist organization but "a party that won the elections", and called Israel a "terrorist state that commits genocide".