Israel May Recognize Armenian Genocide

Yesterday, for the first time, the Knesset held an open hearing on whether to officially recognize the Armenian genocide, where 1.5 million people, two thirds of the Armenians, were slaughtered at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in its final days after World War 1.

This is significant because previously, mindful of previously robust ties with Turkey, Israel had resisted recognizing the Armenian genocide. Currently the Armenian genocide is officially recognized by less than 20 countries, an indication of how much diplomatic weight Turkey has been able to throw around.

Now it seems that Turkey's diplomatic firewall might be cracking. Last week the lower house of the French Parliament voted to make Armenian genocide denial a crime, at which point Turkey recalled its ambassador. This follows on the heels of the long running diplomatic spat between Turkey and Israel stemming from the killing of Turkish "peace activists" on the 2009 Gaza Flotilla.

(Authors note: It is a testament to the Orwellian lies surrounding I/P that people who intend to forcefully break a military blockade against a medieval terrorist organization are called peace activists)

It seems that the current moderate Islamist Turkish government is moving toward trying to win the admiration of the Arab/Muslim street rather than the west, as they 1) continue to militarily occupy half of an EU member state (Cyprus), 2) risk a spat with France, and 3) foment a split with Israel.

In that case, there seems to be less for Israel to lose in recognizing the Armenian genocide, as pointed out by some right wing Knesset members:

Ori Orbach, a parliamentarian from the right-wing Habayit Hayehudi party, challenged the government’s concerns about what Turkey might do and spoke for many conservatives here.

“How many times can they recall their ambassador?” he asked rhetorically. “What can Turkey do to us? It’s our duty to teach what happened to the Armenian people.”

The fault lines in the Knesset debate over the Armenian are interesting, and yet again demonstrate how traditional left/right demarkations are difficult to apply in Israel.

The session was launched by the combined efforts of Alex Miller of the ultranationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party and Zahava Gal-On of the left-wing Meretz party. Enthusiastic advocates include many members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hawkish Likud party — yet Mr. Netanyahu’s national security adviser, Yaakov Amidror, telephoned (Knesset speaker) Mr. Rivlin of Parliament on Sunday and tried to get the session canceled.

Speaker Rivlin himself said

As a people and as a country we stand and face the whole world with the highest moral demand that Holocaust denial is something human history cannot accept

But there are also the voices of pragmatists, who think that Israel's strategic relationship with Turkey can be salvaged:

Otniel Schneller, a parliamentarian from the opposition Kadima Party and himself the son of Holocaust survivors, spoke against the commemoration, saying the region was growing more hostile to Israel in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings and that Israel had to be pragmatic.

“This is the time when we must rehabilitate our relations with Turkey because this is an existential issue for us,” he said. “We have to integrate into the Middle East. Sometimes our desire to be right and moral overcomes our desire to exist, which is in the interest of the entire country.”

So what should win out? Israel's relationship with Turkey is historically important but frayed. The Armenian genocide was in some ways a prelude to the Shoah, and Turkey seems to be showing signs of casting its lot with Israel's enemies.