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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly addressed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a ceremony in Jerusalem yesterday, declaring “this is our city” as he inaugurated the Pilgrimage Road in the City of David, which was opened after years of excavation.
In his speech during the event, Netanyahu recalled a 1998 meeting with then-Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz. He recounted that Yılmaz had refused to hand over Israel a Hebrew-inscribed stone tablet found at the site, even in exchange of “all Ottoman artifacts” in Israel’s museums.
According to Netanyahu, Yılmaz told him, “There is a growing Islamist constituency, headed by the then-mayor of İstanbul—you know his name. And there would be an outrage from this section of the Turkish people if we would give Israel a tablet that would show that Jerusalem was a Jewish city 2,700 years ago.”
Erdoğan was the İstanbul mayor at the time.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly addressed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a ceremony in Jerusalem yesterday, declaring “this is our city” as he inaugurated the Pilgrimage Road in the City of David, which was opened after years of excavation.
In his speech during the event, Netanyahu recalled a 1998 meeting with then-Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz. He recounted that Yılmaz had refused to hand over Israel a Hebrew-inscribed stone tablet found at the site, even in exchange of “all Ottoman artifacts” in Israel’s museums.
According to Netanyahu, Yılmaz told him, “There is a growing Islamist constituency, headed by the then-mayor of İstanbul—you know his name. And there would be an outrage from this section of the Turkish people if we would give Israel a tablet that would show that Jerusalem was a Jewish city 2,700 years ago.”
Erdoğan was the İstanbul mayor at the time.
Netanyahu continued, addressing Erdoğan directly: “Now, 2000 years later, we’ve recovered our city. We’ve recovered our independence. This is our city, Mr. Erdoğan. It’s not your city. It will always be our city. It will not be divided again.”
The Israeli PM went on to once again thank US President Donald Trump for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and relocating the US embassy to the city back in 2018.
The ceremony was also attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
The ancient road once carried Jewish pilgrims runs about 600 meters, stretching from Pool of Siloam to the foot of the Temple Mount.
