Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was pressured by Azerbaijan into blocking a bill already approved by the government to officially recognise the Armenian Genocide, the Israeli media outlet Haaretz has reported, citing an unnamed source.
The reporting follows a month of uncertainty about the progress towards recognition after the Israeli government unanimously approved the proposal, put forth by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, in June.
At the time, Sa’ar called the move to recognise the genocide ‘a moral duty’.
The initial steps were met with widespread scepticism, including in Armenia, with many viewing the possible recognition as a geopolitical game that said more about Israeli tensions with Turkey than a genuine desire to recognise the genocide.
The Israeli government’s approval of the resolution drew intense criticism from Azerbaijan and Turkey, with the latter accusing Israel of seeking to ‘cover up its own crimes’ in Gaza.
Turkey denies the Armenian Genocide, which was orchestrated by its predecessor state, the Ottoman Empire. The genocide resulted in the mass killings of nearly 1.5 million Armenians living in what is modern-day eastern Turkey.
Azerbaijan, which is allied to both Turkey and Israel, called the move ‘a matter of serious concern’ and urged the Israeli government to ‘reconsider’ what it called the ‘distortion of the historical facts surrounding the events of 1915’.
According to Haaretz, Baku’s disapproval did not stop at statements, but went as far as to dispatch influential presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev to pressure Netanyahu to drop the bill.
However, Sa’ar’s office denied to Haaretz that Netanyahu had forced the vote to be cancelled, ‘but did not provide an alternative explanation’ why the bill was not brought to a vote.
‘There is a government decision [to recognise the genocide], and it was approved unanimously’, Sa’ar told Haaretz.
‘It will not be changed, and that is the important and historic fact’.
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Direct link to this article: https://www.armenianclub.com/2026/07/21/netanyahu-blocks-armenian-genocide-recognition-bill-after-pressure-from-azerba/