Edelstein says it’s time to recognize Armenian genocide

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein says Israel should reexamine its official position on recognition of the Armenian genocide.

“This is one of the most despicable and most dramatic incidents that happened in the beginning of the last century. Over several years, more than a million Armenians were led to their deaths and according to most estimates – the number reached a million and a half. This was done through massacres and expulsions, coming from racism and xenophobia,” Edelstein says.

“It is no secret that the State of Israel has until now taken an ambivalent stand on the Armenian genocide. A thicket of constraints, diplomatic and other, created a state of affairs in which the Israeli position was too hesitant, too restrained, and as a result – it appears to have diminished the importance of this powerful event,” says Edelstein.

“It is as members of the Jewish people, with the memory of the Holocaust that occurred not long afterwards still etched in our flesh, that we cannot afford to remain silent. We cannot look aside or belittle the Armenian tragedy,” says the Knesset speaker.

He then calls for a rethink of Israel’s position on the Armenian genocide. “The State of Israel must thoroughly examine its official position, since history, as we know, cannot be changed. We cannot, nor are we allowed, blur with clever phrases the magnitude of the disaster of the Armenian people and the deep stain it left on the morality of the human race,” he says.