The Israeli government’s decision to recognize the Armenian genocide, approved last month, was not brought to a Knesset vote due to pressure from Azerbaijan on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Haaretz quotes an Israeli source as saying.
The Israeli source assessed that Netanyahu blocked the vote, which had been advanced by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, after Hikmet Hajiyev, the foreign adviser to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, contacted the Prime Minister’s Office.
Haaretz says it learned that the Israeli government then informed Azerbaijani officials that the issue had been removed from the Knesset’s agenda and would therefore not be included in the series of votes held shortly before the summer recess last week.
Responding to Haaretz, Sa’ar’s office denied that the vote was canceled as a result of Netanyahu’s intervention but did not provide an alternative explanation for why it was not brought to the Knesset.
“There is a government decision [to recognize the genocide], and it was approved unanimously,” the statement issued by Sa’ar said. “It will not be changed, and that is the important and historic fact.”
