Israeli Parliament to Consider Recognition of Armenian Genocide

Invitation to this year's commemoration ceremony at the Hebrew University

Yesterday, the Knesset approved by a 12-point margin a proposal to have a parliamentary committee hold a hearing on recognizing the WWI killings of Armenians by the Ottoman empire as genocide (Ha'aretz). The Knesset House Committee will now decide whether recognition of the Armenian Genocide ought to be sent for review to the Knesset Education Committee or to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Unlike last year, the government did not oppose the proposal.

The person behind the initiative is MK Haim Oron (Meretz), mentioned previously in this blog. Oron recently won the leadership race of the small left-wing party and is the brother of Yair Auron, who has written two books, one on Israel's position on the Armenian Genocide, and other about the Genocide's reception in the pre-state Jewish community in Palestine.

Backers of recognition in Israel would prefer to have the issue debated in the open Knesset Education Committee, while its opponents, led by MK Yosef Shagal (Yisrael Beitenu), previously described here, would like to see it delegated to the closed-door Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.