Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally intervened to block a planned Knesset vote recognizing the Armenian Genocide after senior Azerbaijani officials pressured Israel to halt the measure, according to a report by Haaretz.
The Israeli government had unanimously approved the measure in late June at the initiative of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. However, the bill still required approval by the Knesset before it could become binding law.
According to Haaretz, Hikmet Hajiyev, foreign policy adviser to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, contacted Netanyahu’s office on Aliyev’s behalf. Netanyahu then personally ensured the proposal was removed from the Knesset’s agenda before parliament entered its summer recess last Friday, effectively preventing a vote.
The recognition effort had been widely viewed as a diplomatic message to Turkey amid worsening Israeli-Turkish relations over the war in Gaza, with Turkish officials repeatedly accusing Israel of committing genocide in the Palestinian territory.
Responding to Haaretz, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s office denied that Netanyahu blocked the vote but offered no alternative explanation for why it was removed from the agenda. Netanyahu’s office and Hajiyev did not respond to the newspaper’s requests for comment.
The Knesset is now in recess until after Israel’s October 27 elections, making it unlikely the legislation will return in the current parliamentary session.
Azerbaijan had openly opposed the Israeli government’s decision to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Baku, which maintains close political, military and strategic ties with Turkey, has consistently campaigned against international recognition of the genocide.
