An Israeli ambassador described Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a “fundamentalist” who hates the Jewish state on religious grounds, according a U.S. diplomatic cable recently released by whistleblower website WikiLeaks.

The confidential October 2009 cable cites the musings of Gabby Levy, Israel’s ambassador to Turkey, on why Erdogan had turned on Turkey’s longtime ally, Washington Times reports.

“Levy dismissed political calculation as a motivator for Erdogan’s hostility, arguing the Prime Minister’s party had not gained a single point in the polls from his bashing of Israel,” says the cable, which was sent by the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey.

Instead, Levy attributed Erdogan’s harshness to deep-seated emotion. “He’s a fundamentalist. He hates us religiously and his hatred is spreading,” according to the cable.