Secretary of State John Kerry, newly installed in his critically important office, deserves high marks for how he deftly handled the incredibly odious remark by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyik Erdogan describing Zionism as “a crime against humanity.”

While in Ankara as part of his first foray into the volatile Middle East, Kerry immediately and forcefully denounced Erdogan’s provocative anti-Israel statement, which was made, rather laughably, at a United Nations summit for tolerance in Vienna. To their credit, both the White House (as one would expect) and the office of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon (as one might or might not expect) also issued official statements denouncing Erdogan’s statement.

The Turkish leader’s statement was particularly pernicious as he tried to create a perception of fairness by lumping Zionism in with anti-Semitism and Islamophobia as forms of unacceptable hate. This is of course a preposterous comparison on its face, but is made even more so when one considers that a recent report on xenophobia identified Jews and Armenians as being objects of the greatest number of hateful writings in Turkey. Clearly Erdogan wants to both have and eat his cake, but on at least this occasion, he got called out on his blatantly disingenuous tactics.

Kerry also urged Erdogan to restore the once cordial and strategically important cooperation that existed between Israel and Turkey, especially at the military level. Erdogan has been playing a dangerous game of supporting radical Islamist elements in the Middle East. Notable was his enabling boats in 2010’s so-called Gaza Flotilla to sail under Turkish flags. Flotilla travelers, including Turkish nationals, attacked Israeli troops who boarded the Mavi Marmara, and several were killed in the resulting melee.

Erdogan’s anti-Israel comments harken back to the infamous “Zionism-equals-racism” resolution pushed through by an anti-Israel coalition in the UN General Assembly back in 1975. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, then the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, delivered a blistering attack against the resolution, calling it one of the most shameful acts in the history of the world body. Eventually, after the Egypt-Israel peace treaty was signed, the UN General Assembly repealed the resolution.

Before Erdogan’s premiership, the largely secular Turkish military had cordial and strategically important relations with the Israel Defense Forces. Turkey is a member of the NATO alliance and Israel is considered officially a major non-NATO ally of the United States. If Erdogan ever chooses to lead in a constructive way, siding with civilized democracy over terrorism, then Israel and Turkey will have the chance to address the region’s issues together. For instance, at present, both Israel and Turkey share deep concern over the tragic civil war in Syria which has seen 70,000 lives taken and has spilled over into both neighboring nations. Erdogan could have used the opportunity of Kerry’s visit to demonstrate joint compassion and support for a way forward in the Syrian crisis. Instead, he elevated Israel-bashing over statesmanship, thus allowing hate to predominate over diplomatic problem-solving.

Kerry, on the other hand, proved in his very first foreign trip that he has the right stuff to be this nation’s chief diplomat at a very violent and uncertain period in global history. Kerry was equally skilled in his meetings with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, during which he urged the Egyptian leader to respect the rights of all segments of Egyptian society. While there are certainly different takes on Kerry’s announcement that $250 million in aid to Egypt is being released — is it better to assist now to ward off further degradation, or to hold out a stick for future compliance? — there’s no question that Kerry is working hard to find the right path to a more stable and cooperative Egypt.

The same constructive approach cannot be attributed to Erdogan. He has given up any pretense of fairness to Israel and has bought the radical Islamist approach hook, line and sinker. Kerry called him on it and should be applauded for doing so. His experienced voice and demeanor clearly engaged diplomacy while not in any way shrinking from support of the U.S.-Israel relationship and the ongoing security and standing of the Jewish State.