Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar will this week propose an official recognition of the Armenian genocide in a move that will likely further escalate tensions between Israel and Turkey .
Israel, which itself is widely accused of carrying out a genocide in Gaza, has for years not commented on the killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman forces during World War I.
But amid a growing geopolitical rivalry, Saar will on Sunday advocate in a cabinet meeting that the Israeli government overturn its decades-long position on the event.
"Recognising the genocide perpetrated against the Armenian people in the final years of the Ottoman Empire is both a moral and historical duty," Saar wrote on social media on Thursday.
"We must also firmly condemn any denial, minimisation, or distortion of the historical truth," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in August said that he recognised the genocide, provoking a furious response from the Turkish government.
Turkey vehemently rejects that the killings and forced deportations of Armenian Christians amounted to genocide.
Any decision by the Israeli government to formally recognise the genocide will need to be passed into law by the Knesset. The New Arab has approached Turkey's foreign ministry for comment.
I will bring before the Israeli government at its next meeting a proposed resolution for the official recognition by the Government of Israel of the Armenian Genocide.
Recognizing the genocide perpetrated against the Armenian people in the final years of the Ottoman Empire is…
— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) June 25, 2026 Deteriorating ties Since its founding, Israel has avoided comment on the Armenian genocide, instead prioritising good relations with Ankara.
But ties between the two countries have fallen to historic lows on the back of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza and a battle for influence in post-Assad Syria
Concerns in Ankara have mounted over Israeli's destabilising behaviour since October 2023, which has seen it bomb seven countries in the region and seize territory in Syria and Lebanon.
Israel increasingly sees Turkey as a major rival in the region with a succession of Israeli officials in recent months hinting at the prospect of a future military attack on the country, with some characterising it as posing a bigger threat than Iran.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stridently criticised Israel's assault on Gaza, describing it as a genocide and repeatedly comparing Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
The two countries are also at odds in Syria, where Israel has sought to undermine Ahmed al-Sharaa's government, which has been supported by Turkey.
Israel wiped out much of the country's military capabilities in the wake of Assad's ouster and has backed Druze separatists in the south. It has also threatened to target Turkish forces inside the country Support for Azerbaijan However, Israel's geopolitically informed show of support for the past plight of Armenians has been overshadowed by its backing of Azerbaijan.
Israeli defence companies are among the biggest suppliers of arms to the Azeri government, which fought a war with Armenia in 2020 in order to take control of the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
In 2023, Azeri forces took control of the region and drove out 100,000 Armenians after launching a major offensive.