In a historic vote on Sunday, the Israeli government unanimously approved formal recognition of the Armenian Genocide, ending decades of deliberate silence on one of the darkest chapters of the 20th century, and drawing an immediate rebuke from Azerbaijan.
The recognition came following a resolution proposed by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who called it a "moral and historical duty."
"This horrific genocide, which took place more than 100 years ago and regarding which there is no real dispute over the historical facts, included the murder of 1.5 million people and the destruction of an ancient cultural and historical heritage," Sa'ar said after the vote. "In my view, it is our moral duty as Jews, and certainly as the state of the Jewish people, to make the decision we made today."
The move, backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, now heads to the Knesset plenum for a vote.
For decades, Israel avoided recognizing the genocide due to diplomatic sensitivities with Turkey, which denies that the massacres and mass deportations of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire constituted genocide. That calculus shifted dramatically as Israel-Turkey relations collapsed in the wake of October 7 and the Gaza war.
The response from Baku came swiftly. Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry Monday declared the decision a matter of "deep and significant concern," calling on Israel to reconsider. "The distortion of historical facts surrounding the events of 1915, and the reduction of a complex historical issue to a political decision without legal or scientific basis, is unacceptable," the ministry said in a statement. "These actions do not contribute to reconciliation or mutual understanding. Instead, they deepen existing disputes and harm efforts to achieve sustainable peace and stability in the region."
Azerbaijan closed its statement by insisting it "remains firmly committed to preserving historical truth, respecting the principles of international law, and promoting sustainable peace and stability in the region."
The framing will ring hollow to many. The Jewish state's recognition is rooted in precisely the same moral logic that has defined Jewish collective memory since the Holocaust: that silence in the face of documented mass murder is its own form of complicity. As Sa'ar put it plainly, "It's never too late to do the right thing."
The cabinet vote also recognized the genocide carried out against Assyrians and Greeks by Ottoman Turkey in the early 20th century.
