'Erdogan is an enemy of Israel': Knesset speaker

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan "was and will remain" an enemy of Israel, the speaker of the Israeli parliament said on Tuesday.

Yuli-Yoel Edelstein anger was sparked by Erdogan's comments Monday that Muslims should "increase their visitation" to the al-Aqsa Mosque and fight against the "Judaisation" of Jerusalem.

"As long as Erdogan is leading Turkey, the relations between the two countries will not be as it was two decades ago," Edelstein said on Israeli public radio.

President Erdogan's office made the statement following a meeting with the Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah.

"It is impossible to find a solution and peace in the region without finding a fair solution for the Palestinian cause first," Erdogan said.

Emmanuel Nahshon, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson, reacted to the president's comments, saying: "Whoever systematically violates human rights in their own country should not preach morality to the only true democracy in the region".

Edelstein, the son of a Russian Orthodox priest, was born in Ukraine and served in the Soviet army before moving to Israel as a settler in the West Bank.

The speaker was responsible for ordering an investigation into jailed Palestinian member of parliament Basel Ghattas, who was accused of smuggling mobile phones to Palestinian prisoners.