Israel Moves to Recognize the Armenian Genocide, Despite Turkish Opposition

The government today (Sunday) unanimously approved Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s proposal to recognize the Armenian Genocide. The measure will now be brought to the Knesset for approval.

As previously reported, last Thursday Sa’ar announced the proposal under which Israel would recognize the genocide carried out against the Armenians in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. The bill stated that Israel would condemn any attempt to deny, minimize, or distort the genocide. According to the Foreign Ministry, 32 countries around the world have so far recognized the Armenian Genocide in various ways.

Foreign Minister Sa’ar said during the vote: "This shocking genocide, which took place more than 100 years ago and about whose historical facts there is truly no dispute, included the murder of one and a half million people and the destruction of an ancient cultural and historical heritage. In my view, it is our moral duty as Jews, and certainly as the state of the Jewish people, to make this decision that we made today. I want to thank Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his backing and my fellow ministers for their support."

Sa’ar’s proposal stated that "despite the extensive and unequivocal historical documentation, the Armenian Genocide remains to this day the subject of an organized campaign of denial and minimization, including the manipulative rewriting of history books, primarily by Turkey." In the legal opinion sent to the ministers, the Foreign Ministry’s legal adviser, attorney Tamar Kaplan-Turgeman, noted that "notice of the decision will be delivered to the Knesset, and the government will act to bring it to a vote in the Knesset plenum."

It is worth noting that over the past two decades, Israel has rejected proposals to approve recognition of the genocide. That was due both to a desire to avoid a confrontation with Turkey and to concern over a clash with Azerbaijan, an Israeli ally that is in conflict with Armenia.