ALBAWABA - Cementing the deepening rift between Israel and Turkey, the Israeli cabinet has unanimously voted to recognize the Armenian Genocide - one which Turkey denies ever happened.
Israel follows two dozen other nations that recognize the genocide, including France, Germany, and the U.S. With President Biden recognizing it during his tenure while Trump has not used the same terminology.
Relations between the two countries started deteriorating in earnest after the Gaza war, as the Turkish government and its President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have repeatedly described Israel’s ongoing military actions in the Gaza strip as a genocide - Erdogan, going even further, has compared Israel’s actions to Nazi Germany.
The Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has hit back at Erdogan, calling him an "anti-Semitic dictator who commits genocide against the Kurds". And now his government seeks to recognize another Turkish perpetrated genocide; the Armenian Genocide, pending ratification from parliament.
"This is not an act of retaliation for the open hostility, along with the terrible rhetoric and the hostile action of Turkey, under Erdogan's leadership, against Israel," Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said, referring to the recognition.
"The fact that Turkey promotes false narratives against Israel, does not grant it immunity from historical truths."
The Armenians have been seeking international recognition for the genocide where 1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed between 1915 and 1917 by the Ottoman Empire while the Turks claim that the number is closer to a few hundred thousands, saying that both Turks and Armenians died as a result of World War I.
