Israel’s cabinet voted unanimously to recognise the Armenian genocide, marking an abrupt shift from a long-standing policy of avoiding the issue to preserve strategic ties with Turkey. The resolution, proposed by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, declares a “moral and historical obligation” to acknowledge the systematic killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. The move is set to deepen a diplomatic rift that has seen personal attacks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Sa’ar said the decision was “never too late to do the right thing” and not an act of retaliation for Ankara’s “terrible rhetoric,” adding he had received a letter of appreciation from Jerusalem’s Armenian community. The measure still requires a vote in the Knesset to take legal effect.

Viewed from Ankara, the resolution is a direct challenge to a core national narrative. Turkey, as the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, categorically rejects the term “genocide,” insisting that mass deaths during the wartime period affected all peoples of the empire and were not a premeditated extermination. Turkish officials have previously downgraded ties with states that adopt the label and are likely to respond sharply, given the already hostile climate. The recognition comes amid a series of mutual recriminations: Erdoğan has accused Israel of threatening Turkish security, while Netanyahu has called the Turkish leader an “antisemitic dictator” who oppresses Kurds and supports Hamas.

Israel now joins more than 30 nations, including France, Germany, Russia, and the United States, that have formally recognised the genocide, though only Argentina, Uruguay, and France have encoded the recognition into law. The step is notable against the backdrop of international allegations that Israel itself is committing genocide in its Gaza campaign—a charge Israeli officials brand an “antisemitic lie.” Analysts in European capitals observe that the Israeli government draws a sharp line between the two dossiers, framing its Armenian recognition as a universal moral imperative grounded in Jewish historical experience, not as a geopolitical trade-off.

The dossier now passes to the Knesset for formal approval, which is expected to follow the cabinet consensus and Netanyahu’s previously informal acknowledgement of the genocide. The episode underscores how the collapse of Israel-Turkey relations has dismantled the diplomatic constraints that for years kept Tel Aviv silent on the issue. While the resolution is partly a gesture to the Armenian diaspora and a symbol of a values-based foreign policy, in the current regional alignment it also signals Israel’s willingness to defy Ankara on one of its most sensitive historical questions.