In recent weeks, after a lot of fuss over the issue of recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Israel, it became known that the vote on the resolution on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide was suspended in the Israeli parliament. JNS wrote about this, citing an Israeli official.

Earlier, at the end of June, the Israeli government unanimously approved the proposal to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide. After that step, the matter had to be submitted to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, for approval. According to JNS, the suspension of voting took place at a diplomatically sensitive time, against the background of new tensions in the region. The media reminded that the relations between Israel and Turkey have worsened in recent months due to the war in Gaza and the harsh statements made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against Israel.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who presented the recognition proposal in the government, said earlier that it was the right step and a matter of historical justice. According to AP, the Israeli government justified the decision with Turkey’s policy of denying and reducing historical facts. Turkey called the Israeli government’s decision a politically motivated move.

According to JNS, the decision to suspend the parliamentary vote can be seen as part of international efforts to reduce tensions between Israel and Turkey. JNS also notes that last month the Azerbaijani authorities condemned the Israeli government’s decision and called for its reversal. The newspaper emphasizes that Azerbaijan has historical ties with both Turkey and Israel and has been trying to mediate between the two countries for a long time. The Knesset is due to go on summer break at the end of the week and will not be in session until national elections scheduled for October 27, according to JNS.

168.amin a conversation with Russian analyst Victor Nadein-Raevsky said that Israel’s suspension of the vote on the Armenian Genocide recognition resolution once again proves that issues of historical justice are often subordinated to current geopolitical interests and “Realpolitik” rules. According to him, while the Israeli government’s approval was seen as a response to Ankara’s harsh anti-Israel rhetoric, the suspension of the Knesset vote is indicative of Tel Aviv’s caution. According to the analyst, the Israeli elite realizes that the official recognition of the Genocide would irreversibly strain the situation in relations with Turkey, depriving Israel of any possibility to regulate relations with Turkey in the future.

“Obviously, Israel’s desire to prevent the relations with Turkey from becoming extremely tense is of key importance. Despite Erdogan’s harsh statements and economic restrictions, the ties between the two countries are not completely severed. For Israel, Turkey remains an important geographical and logistical platform, with which a complete confrontation can further complicate the circle of threats formed around Israel. By freezing the resolution, Tel Aviv is taking a “diplomatic pause”, showing that it is not ready to burn the final bridges, especially when there is international pressure on Israel on various issues,” said Victor Nadein-Raevsky.

On the other hand, in his opinion, the active mediating and lobbying activities of Azerbaijan most likely played a decisive role in this process.

“Baku, having strategic allied relations with Turkey and a deep military-political partnership with Israel, found itself in a difficult situation. For Azerbaijan, a full-scale confrontation between Turkey and Israel is an undesirable scenario, as it could endanger the interests of Baku, where Israeli weapons and Turkish support are equally vital. By actively intervening and calling on Tel Aviv to back off from that step, Azerbaijan not only acted as a defender of Ankara’s interests, but also tried to maintain the balance of regional power that allows it to maneuver between the two allies,” he said.

Viktor Nadein-Raevsky believes that the domestic political agenda and the upcoming elections became an additional excuse to put the issue on the “shelf” for a long time.

“Such tactics are not new in Israeli politics. The issue of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide has been used as a political whip against Turkey for decades, which was activated in moments of deterioration of relations and immediately frozen, as backstage trading and calculations began in the diplomatic backstage. Therefore, the repeated suspension of the Armenian Genocide recognition process by Israel was not a coincidence, but a clearly calculated geopolitical retreat. “Tel Aviv preferred not to deepen the conflict with Turkey and met Azerbaijan’s mediation calls, being in a not so clear foreign political situation at the moment,” explained Victor Nadein-Raevsky.

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