'Israel' moves to formally recognize Armenian WWI deaths as "genocide"

• 'Israel's' Cabinet unanimously approved recognizing the Armenian genocide, with the proposal now awaiting parliamentary approval.
• Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said the move fulfills 'Israel's' "moral duty" and denounced what he called Turkey's campaign to deny and minimize the atrocities.
• The decision is expected to deepen tensions with Turkey, which rejects the genocide label, and comes amid already strained bilateral relations over the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.

'Israel's' Cabinet unanimously approved a proposal on Sunday to recognize the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I as a genocide, marking a major shift in 'Israeli' policy that comes against the backdrop of worsening relations with Turkey.

The measure, proposed by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, still requires approval by 'Israel's' parliament before becoming official.

In a statement following the Cabinet vote, Sa'ar said 'Israel' had "fulfilled a moral duty by recognizing the historical truth, and rejecting attempts to deny it."

Addressing the Cabinet, Sa'ar said that despite extensive historical evidence, 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."

"I think the time has come for Israel, as a Jewish state, to formally accept this position," he added.

The Armenian genocide refers to the systematic deportation and mass killing of Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1916. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, between 664,000 and 1.2 million Armenians died, while many historians estimate the death toll reached as high as 1.5 million, making it one of the first genocides of the 20th century.

Turkey has long rejected the characterization of the events as genocide, arguing that the deaths occurred during civil strife and wartime conditions and disputing estimates of the number of victims.

For decades, successive 'Israeli' governments avoided officially recognizing the Armenian genocide, largely to preserve diplomatic ties with Turkey, a key regional partner. However, relations between the two countries have steadily deteriorated over the past two decades and have sharply worsened since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, as well as subsequent conflicts involving Lebanon and Iran.

'Israel's' decision places it alongside countries including the United States, France, Germany and Italy, all of which have formally recognized the Armenian genocide.

The move is expected to further strain already tense relations between Jerusalem and Ankara, which has consistently opposed international recognition of the Armenian massacres as genocide.