Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett warned on Tuesday that Recep Tayyip Erdogan is positioning Turkey as a major strategic threat to Israel, describing Ankara as “the new Iran”.

Speaking at the Conference of major American Jewish organisations in Jerusalem, Bennett said Turkey under Erdogan is “a sophisticated and dangerous adversary who wants to encircle Israel”, adding that Israel “must not turn a blind eye again”.

Bennett outlined what he described as a growing regional axis linking Turkey, Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood, with Pakistan providing nuclear capabilities.

He claimed the alliance was working to inflame hostility towards Israel and exert influence beyond its immediate sphere, including on Saudi Arabia.

“Qatar and Turkey, operating from Syria and with Israeli consent in Gaza, are fuelling a new monstrous axis of the Muslim Brotherhood, similar to the Iranian one,” Bennett said, alleging that the network was actively undermining Israel’s security.

He argued that Israel must confront multiple threats at the same time.

“A new Turkish threat is emerging. We must act in different ways, but simultaneously, both against the threat from Tehran and against hostility from Ankara,” he said.

Bennett also turned his criticism inward, accusing Israel’s current leadership of deepening internal divisions.

“The current leadership of Israel has divided us and is dividing us more than ever,” he said, arguing that it had failed to adequately protect the country.

Concluding his remarks, Bennett signalled his intention to return to frontline politics.

“I will not allow the leadership that has failed to continue. I intend to lead Israel into the next chapter, a stronger one,” he said, adding that after decades in power and what he described as “the greatest disaster in Israel’s history”, Benjamin Netanyahu must step aside.