Israel’s parliament (Knesset) will debate recognizing the alleged Armenian genocide amid a diplomatic spat with Turkey over the murder of dozens of Palestinian protesters by Israeli troops on the Gaza border last week.
It is the first time in years that the Israeli foreign ministry has not objected to a debate on the alleged Ottoman Empire’s massacre of some 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 during World War One.
The debate is expected to be held in Israel’s parliament the Knesset on Wednesday public broadcaster Kann reported Tuesday reported.
Israel has refrained from formally recognizing the genocide due to its diplomatic ties with Turkey and Azerbaijan.
The row escalated on Wednesday when Turkish authorities subjected the departing Israeli Ambassador Eitan Na’eh to a rigorous security check at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport and invited local TV crews to film it.
Both the country’s envoys and consuls in Jerusalem and Istanbul respectively were also withdrawn back to their respective capitals.
Israeli lawmakers had said last week that they would put forth bills proposing officially recognizing the Armenian genocide as the crisis escalated.
Intelligence Minister Israel Katz Education Minister Naftali Bennett and senior Zionist Union MK Tzipi Livni all expressed their support for such initiatives.
Turkey — the Ottoman Empire’s successor state — argues that the massacre was a collective tragedy in which equal numbers of Turks and Armenians died.
Another resolution to suspend cement imports from Turkey is also slated to be debated by the Knesset.
The fragile Israel-Turkey relationship was thrown into disrepair last week as Ankara condemned the killing of 60 Palestinians on Gaza border protests as a massacre withdrawing its ambassador from Israel and kicking out Israel’s envoy a day later.
