Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Credit: AFP)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has, for the first time in his country’s history, referred to the mass killings and deportations carried out by the Ottoman Empire against several minorities, including Armenians, at the start of the 20th century as a "genocide."
In an interview Tuesday on a podcast hosted by Armenian American presenter Patrick Bet-David, Netanyahu said Israel had already recognized the Armenian genocide. "I believe the Knesset passed a resolution to this effect," he said, although no such law has ever been passed by the Israeli parliament. When asked why no Israeli prime minister had previously recognized the genocide, he replied: "Well, I just did."
Israel has long avoided using the term "genocide" for massacres other than the Holocaust during World War II. Lawmakers have introduced several bills to formally recognize the Armenian genocide, most recently in 2018 and 2021, but none have been approved.
According to Armenia, up to 1.5 million people were killed between 1915 and 1916. Several dozen countries, including the United States, France, Germany, Brazil and Russia, officially recognize the mass killings and deportations of Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks in the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide.
Turkey on Wednesday condemned Netanyahu’s remarks, claiming they were an attempt to "cover up the crimes" of the Israeli army in Gaza. "Netanyahu's statements about the events of 1915 are an attempt to exploit past tragedies for political purposes," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 60,000 people, mostly civilians, according to local authorities. Human rights groups have denounced Israel’s actions — which have included the widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure — as "genocide."
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