JERUSALEM — The Israeli government unanimously approved Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s proposal on Sunday to recognize the Armenian Genocide, a move expected to further strain already tense relations with Turkey.
“It is never too late to do the right thing,” Sa’ar said at the Cabinet meeting.
The resolution states that Israel, “on the basis of moral and historical duty,” recognizes the genocide committed against the Armenian people during the final years of the Ottoman Empire. It also calls for the condemnation of any denial, minimization, or distortion of the historical truth of the events.
Israel had long avoided formal recognition, partly out of concern over its relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan. Turkey rejects the genocide label, while Azerbaijan, a strategic partner of Israel bordering Iran and maintaining major arms ties with Jerusalem, has also opposed recognition.
The resolution’s explanatory notes state that the genocide began in April 1915 with the arrest, deportation, and killing of Armenian intellectuals and leaders in Constantinople. It says Ottoman authorities then systematically targeted the Armenian population, killing men sent to forced labor and deporting women, children, and the elderly on death marches toward the Syrian desert.
The text says about 1.5 million Armenians were killed and that centuries-old Armenian cultural and historical heritage in Anatolia was destroyed.
It also states that the Armenian Genocide remains the subject of an organized denial campaign, particularly by Turkey, despite extensive historical documentation. The proposal notes that 32 countries have recognized the genocide in various ways.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately condemned the Israeli decision, reiterating accusations of Israeli “genocide” in Gaza and positioning Turkey as a defender of the oppressed. The Israeli Foreign Ministry has previously described Erdogan as a leader who persecutes political opponents, imprisons journalists, targets Kurds, occupies northern Cyprus, and supports jihadist groups.
