Turkey expels Israel’s consul in Istanbul

Turkey on Tuesday night ordered Israel’s consul general in Istanbul, Yossi Levi Sfari, to leave the country, the Foreign Ministry confirmed, a further volley in a round of diplomat expulsions that has seen both countries kick out each others’ ambassadors as relations soured over deadly clashes on the Gaza Strip border.

Earlier in the day, Israel expelled Turkey’s consul in Jerusalem amid an increasingly acerbic war of words between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The removal from Jerusalem of Consul-General Hüsnü Gürcan Türkoğlu, who also represents Turkey to the Palestinian Authority, was extraordinary in that Israel rarely interacts with foreign diplomats dealing exclusively with the Palestinians.