Israel moves to formally recognize Armenian First World War deaths as a genocide

Armenians hold their national flag during a ceremony to commemorate the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, in Jerusalem, Israel, Friday, April 24, 2015. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s Cabinet unanimously approved a proposal on Sunday to designate violence against Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during First World War as a genocide.

The step, which still needs approval in Parliament, reflects deteriorating ties between Israel and Turkey. Turkey has fiercely lobbied to prevent countries from officially recognizing the mass deaths of Armenians around 1915 as a genocide, even as Armenians have pushed for it.

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

For years, Israel did not officially broach the subject for fear of angering Turkey, but that relationship has soured over the past two decades, especially in recent years as the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran have dragged on.

“Despite the extensive and unambiguous historical documentation, the Armenian Genocide remains to this day the subject of an institutionalized campaign of denial and minimization, including a manipulative rewriting of history, mainly by the Turkish government,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, who brought the decision to the government.

He noted that Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have previously described the violence against Armenians as a genocide. But it has never been formally recognized in a vote by Israel’s Knesset.

“It is never too late to do the right thing,” Saar said Sunday, calling it a “moral and historical duty.”

He noted that 32 countries, including the United States, Syria and Lebanon, have also classified the violence as a genocide. It was not immediately known when Sunday’s decision, approved unanimously by Israel’s Cabinet, would go to the parliament for approval. There was no immediate reaction from Turkey.

Israel and Turkey were once close allies, but relations soured during the rise of Turkey’s Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leading Israel to reconsider its position.

Israel has faced repeated accusations, including from the United Nations and Turkey, that its offensive in Gaza amounts to genocide. Israel, founded in the wake of the Holocaust, denies the accusations.

Israel launched the war in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Gaza’s Health Ministry, part of the Hamas government, says over 73,000 people have been killed, roughly half of them women and children. Israel says it does not target civilians and accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields.

Last week, a team of independent experts commissioned by the United Nations accused Israel of deliberately shooting children in Gaza and repeated accusations that Israel has carried out a genocide. Israel called the report a “libelous sham.”

The Associated Press