The Israeli government on Sunday unanimously recognised the massacres of Armenians during World War I as genocide, a move widely seen as a rebuke to Turkey and a stark signal of the deepening rift between the two countries.
Issued on: 29/06/2026 - 15:58
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"A historic decision: the Israeli government has unanimously approved Foreign Minister Gideon Saar's proposal to recognise the Armenian genocide," the foreign ministry said in a statement. The cabinet's decision must still be ratified by parliament. "The Armenian genocide remains to this day the subject of an institutionalised campaign of denial and minimisation, including a manipulative rewriting of history, mainly by the Turkish government," Saar said at a cabinet meeting, according to a statement issued by his office. "I think the time has come for Israel, as a Jewish state, to formally accept this position... It is never too late to do the right thing... this is both a moral and historical duty." Successive Israeli governments had avoided formally recognising the Armenian genocide, in part to preserve relations with Turkey, once one of Israel's closest strategic partners in the region. But since the war in Gaza erupted, Turkey has regularly accused Israel of committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, an accusation Israel strongly denies. Critics Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has emerged as one of the fiercest critics of the war, repeatedly comparing Israeli leaders to Nazi officials.
