Israel's Ambassador to Ankara Eitan Na'eh, who was expelled at the orders of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was humiliated at the Istanbul International Airport on Wednesday as he was made to undergo a strict security screening in front of media cameras.

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The Turkish media teams were invited to the airport to cover Na'eh's departure from the country and filmed him removing his jacket and shoes at the request of security personnel. Na'eh was also frisked by a Turkish security guard.

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"This was an intentional humiliation," an Israeli official said. "The journalists were invited to the airport and taken into the sterile area of a Turkish Airlines flight, where security checks are done right before boarding."

Returning to Israel, Na'eh said he always has to undergo security checks at the Istanbul airport, but that this was the only time cameras were brought in to witness it. "There's no place like Israel," Na'eh added. "There's no place like Israel," Na'eh added.

Na'eh undergoes strict security check at airport

Because of the on-camera humiliation, the no. 2 diplomat in the Turkish mission in Israel, Umut Deniz, was summoned by the Foreign Ministry for a reprimand.

Upon his arrival at the Foreign Ministry, Deniz was asked to present his identification at the entrance—Israel's response to the humiliation of Na'eh.

In her meeting with Deniz, the director of the Foreign Ministry's Southern Europe Department, Iris Ambor, "expressed Israel's strong protest to the outrageous Turkish conduct," adding that "Israel cannot tolerate such behavior towards its representative. This behavior constitutes a blatant violation of the diplomatic code of conduct common among nations. This position has also been made clear directly to Ankara as well."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said Israel "views the incident that took place this morning at the airport very gravely. It cannot be that Israel's ambassador to Ankara is humiliated at the Istanbul airport, and in the presence of media that was brought there intentionally. This is something that must not happen between countries that have diplomatic ties. Because of that, we summoned the Turkish official."

Turkish diplomat Umut Deniz asked to show identification (Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch)

It was the latest blow in the recent diplomatic crisis between Israel and Turkey, which started with Erdoğan's decision to recall the ambassadors to the US and to Israel in the wake of the opening of the American Embassy in Jerusalem and Israel's handling of the Gaza border riots, which exacted a high death toll