Turkey slams Israeli FM Katz over AI image of Erdogan as infant on Iran leader Khamenei's lap

Turkey's foreign ministry on Monday condemned a social media post by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who shared an AI-generated image of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sitting on the lap of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Katz posted the image depicting Turkey's leader as being in the thrall of Tehran to X on Sunday.

"Erdogan finances and arms Hamas terror cells to carry out attacks against and murder Israelis," Katz wrote in Turkish.

"Israeli Internal Security Service Shin Bet captured Hamas terrorist cell members who were students at Birzeit University," he said, adding: "The cell in question was commanded by Hamas' headquarters in Turkey," he added, referring to a recent Israeli sting on the Palestinian university.

Turkey's foreign ministry responded by slamming Katz and his country's war on Gaza.

"Israel's Foreign Minister is trying to hide Israel's crimes against the Palestinians behind a series of lies, slander and disrespect. Israel's dirty propaganda targeting Türkiye and President Erdoğan, and psychological operation attempts will not bear fruit," the statement read.

"The members of the Netanyahu Government, who have killed nearly forty thousand Palestinians in Gaza and are now trying to start a regional war in order to stay in power, will be tried in international courts and held accountable for their crimes," it continued.

The statement is the latest heated exchange between Ankara and Tel Aviv, whose diplomatic ties have worsened further since Israel began its latest onslaught on Gaza.

Turkey announced in April that it was restricting exports of dozens of products to Israel, leading Tel Aviv to announce a planned ban on Turkish products. Turkey's expansion of the export ban led Katz to compare Erdogan to a "dictator".

"This is how a dictator behaves, disregarding the interests of the Turkish people and businessmen, and ignoring international trade agreements," Katz tweeted at the time.

Meanwhile, Erdogan has called for Israeli leaders to be tried for war crimes, affirmed Ankara's stance on Hamas as a resistance movement and referred to the Israeli Prime Minister as "mentally ill".

Despite the two countries continuing to trade barbs, Erdogan has come under fire for continuing diplomatic and commercial relations with Israel.