In a unanimous decision on Sunday, Israel’s cabinet approved a resolution formally recognizing the Armenian Genocide — a significant policy reversal that now moves to the Knesset for a final legislative vote.
The measure was put forward by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who described the formal acknowledgment of the mass killings as a “moral and historical duty.” Following the cabinet’s approval, Sa’ar took to X to express his reaction, writing: “It’s never too late to do the right thing.” He went on to say, “I thank Prime Minister Netanyahu for the support and the government ministers for their unanimous support in approving the resolution proposal.”
The resolution formally acknowledges the killing of approximately 1.5 million Armenians during the dying years of the Ottoman Empire. It also calls on Israel to stand against any attempts to deny, downplay, or distort the historical record surrounding those events.
Sa’ar introduced the proposal last week, setting off what the government characterized as a notable change in policy direction. For many decades, Israel had avoided formally recognizing the genocide in order to preserve diplomatic and trade ties with Turkey and Azerbaijan. The cabinet’s vote signals a departure from that stance, coming amid growing tensions between Israel and Turkey in recent years.
The legislation still requires approval from the Knesset before it can take effect as state law.
Background text accompanying the proposal explains that the Armenian Genocide began in April 1915, when Ottoman authorities arrested, deported, and killed hundreds of Armenian intellectuals, community leaders, and members of the educated class in Constantinople. What followed, according to the proposal, was a broader, systematic campaign against the Armenian population at large.
Armenian men were forced into labor before being killed. Women, children, and elderly civilians were driven from their homes and made to march toward the Syrian desert, where victims were subjected to mass murder, rape, deliberate starvation, and dehydration, the proposal states.
The document further notes that the genocide wiped out a cultural and historical legacy that had existed across Anatolia for thousands of years. It also highlights what it describes as ongoing, organized efforts to deny or minimize what happened — pointing specifically to what it calls the manipulative rewriting of history books, primarily by Turkey.
According to the proposal, 32 countries have already recognized the Armenian Genocide through parliamentary resolutions, legislation, or official declarations. Beyond recognition, the Israeli resolution calls for condemnation of all efforts to obscure, minimize, or deny the atrocities carried out against the Armenian people.
