[Israeli] Government unanimously approves landmark proposal to recognize Armen

Maral Takmazian
The Times of Israel
June 28 2026

Government unanimously approves landmark proposal to recognize Armenian genocide

By Nava Freiberg

The government has unanimously approved a proposal for Israel to officially recognize the Armenian genocide.

“It is never too late to do the right thing,” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says in a Hebrew-language statement on the move.

“This horrifying genocide, which took place more than 100 years ago and about whose historical facts there is truly no dispute, involved the murder of one and a half million people and the destruction of an ancient cultural and historical heritage,” he says.

“In my view, it is our moral duty as Jews —-and certainly as the state of the Jewish people — to make the decision we made today. I would like to thank Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his backing, and my fellow government ministers for their support,” the foreign minister says.

Sa’ar said last week he would propose a cabinet resolution today to officially recognize the genocide against the Armenian people during the final years of the Ottoman Empire — a move that will no doubt provoke rival Turkey. Armenians have long sought international recognition of the killings in the early 20th century, which reportedly left some 1.5 million of their people dead, as a genocide. Turkey — the Ottoman Empire’s successor state — strongly rejects the allegation that the massacres, imprisonment and forced deportation of Armenians amounted to genocide.

Jerusalem has previously refrained from recognizing the World War I atrocities as genocide over fears it could harm its relationship with Ankara. However, with ties deteriorating sharply since Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rose to power, particularly following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza — where the Turkish leader has claimed genocide  — Netanyahu last year said for the first time that he recognized the genocide.

Asked last night if he supported the proposal, Netanyahu stated that he had never made any effort to block this move or any past proposals, saying, “I certainly support it,” but declined to comment on whether there was any concern about how Turkey would react.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/government-unanimously-approves-landmark-proposal-to-recognize-armenian-genocide/

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Israel government recognizes Armenian genocide in rebuke to Turkey

Kalashian Nyrie
Le Monde, France
June 28 2026

Israel government recognizes Armenian genocide in rebuke to Turkey

Successive Israeli governments had avoided formally recognizing the Armenian genocide, in part to preserve relations with Turkey, once one of Israel’s closest strategic partners in the region.

Le Monde with AFP

The Israeli government on Sunday, June 28, unanimously recognized the massacres of Armenians during World War I as genocide, a move widely seen as a rebuke to Turkey and a stark signal of the deepening rift between the two countries. Relations between Israel and Turkey have sharply deteriorated since the war in Gaza erupted after Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas’s attacks on Israel in October 2023.

“A historic decision: the Israeli government has unanimously approved Foreign Minister Gideon Saar’s proposal to recognize the Armenian genocide,” the Foreign Ministry said. The cabinet’s decision must still be ratified by parliament. Successive Israeli governments had avoided formally recognizing the Armenian genocide, in part to preserve relations with Turkey, once one of Israel’s closest strategic partners in the region.

But since the war in Gaza erupted, Turkey has regularly accused Israel of committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, an accusation Israel strongly denies. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has emerged as one of the fiercest critics of the war, repeatedly comparing Israeli leaders to Nazi officials. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also hit back at Erdogan, calling him an “anti-semitic dictator who commits genocide against the Kurds”.

Turkey has suspended most trade with Israel and become one of Hamas’s strongest diplomatic supporters. The Armenians seek international recognition that the mass killings of their people under the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1917 amounted to genocide.

They say 1.5 million died, but Turkey strongly denies the accusation of genocide and says that both Armenians and Turks died as a result of the First World War. It puts the death toll in the hundreds of thousands. The killings have been recognized as genocide by more than two dozen countries, including the United States, France and Germany.

Former US president Joe Biden recognized the killings as genocide, a position long sought by Armenia. His successor President Donald Trump has not used the same terminology. Armenia and Turkey have no diplomatic ties, but the two have signalled interest in warming relations in recent years.

Le Monde with AFP


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Armenia and Russia: Rethinking the Relationship

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Yahoo! Finance
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Armenia and Russia: Rethinking the Relationship

Microchip Tech (MCHP) Armenia Office Receives U.S. Export License for Advanced FPGA Development

Maham Fatima
Sat, June 27, 2026 at 7:16 PM GMT+3 1 min read

Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MCHP) is one of the best future stocks to buy and hold for 10 years. On June 4, Microchip Technology’s Armenian office received a US export license to develop advanced FPGA technologies. This approval from the Bureau of Industry and Security allows authorized personnel to work with high-performance hardware and controlled technology under strict compliance with global regulatory frameworks.

The license marks a significant milestone for Armenia’s tech ecosystem, establishing the company as the only multinational semiconductor firm in the region with such a site designation. This move enables local engineering teams to engage in high-value chip design and validation, strengthening Armenia’s role in the global semiconductor supply chain.

This achievement follows the 2025 Memorandum of Understanding between Armenia and the US regarding semiconductors and AI. By expanding the development capabilities of its local offices, established after the 2023 acquisition of Instigate Semiconductor, Microchip is fostering greater innovation and collaboration for its FPGA portfolio across the region.Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MCHP) provides smart, connected, and secure embedded control solutions. Its semiconductor products business designs, develops, manufactures, and markets mixed-signal microcontrollers, development tools, analog and interface products, timing and connectivity devices, and memory products.

 
While we acknowledge the potential of MCHP as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

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Israel moves to formally recognize Armenian WWI deaths as a genocide

Adrine Hakobian
Los Angeles Times

June 28 2026
Associated Press:
  • Israel’s Cabinet has unanimously backed a move to recognize the World War I mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide, pending final approval in parliament.
  • The decision reflects deteriorating ties between Israel and Turkey, which continues to reject the genocide label and has long pressured allies to avoid formal recognition of the killings.
  • Israel’s move comes as it faces its own genocide allegations over the Gaza war.
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TEL AVIV — Israel’s Cabinet unanimously approved a proposal Sunday to designate violence against Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I as a genocide.

The step, which still needs approval in the Knesset, or parliament, reflects deteriorating ties between Israel and Turkey. Turkey has fiercely lobbied to prevent countries from officially recognizing the mass deaths of Armenians around 1915 as a genocide as Armenians have campaigned for such recognition around the world.

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

For years, Israel did not officially broach the subject for fear of angering Turkey, but that relationship has soured over the last two decades, especially in recent years as the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran have dragged on.

“Despite the extensive and unambiguous historical documentation, the Armenian Genocide remains to this day the subject of an institutionalized campaign of denial and minimization, including a manipulative rewriting of history, mainly by the Turkish government,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, who brought the decision to the government.

He noted that Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have previously described the violence against Armenians as a genocide. But it has never been formally recognized in a vote by Israel’s Knesset.

“It is never too late to do the right thing,” Saar said Sunday, calling it a “moral and historical duty.”

He noted that 32 countries, including the United States, Syria and Lebanon, have classified the violence as a genocide. It was not immediately known when Sunday’s decision, approved unanimously by Israel’s Cabinet, would go to the Knesset for approval. There was no immediate reaction from Turkey.

Israel and Turkey were once close allies, but relations deteriorated during the rise of Turkey’s Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Israel has faced repeated accusations, including from the United Nations and Turkey, that its military offensive in the Gaza Strip amounts to genocide. Israel, founded in the wake of the Holocaust, denies the accusations.

Israel launched the Gaza war in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Gaza’s Health Ministry, part of the Hamas government, says more than 73,000 people have been killed, roughly half of them women and children. Israel says it does not target civilians and accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields.

Last week, a team of independent experts commissioned by the United Nations accused Israel of deliberately shooting children in Gaza and repeated accusations that Israel has carried out a genocide. Israel called the report a “libelous sham.”

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Turkey denounces Israel’s ‘political’ recognition of Armenia genocide

Chakrian Hovsep
Al-Ahram, Egypt

June 28 2026
AFP , Sunday 28 Jun 2026

Turkey on Sunday lashed out at Israel after it recognised massacres of Armenians during World War I as genocide, branding it as a “political” decision to cover its own crimes.

“The Israeli government, which has systematically persecuted the Palestinian people before the eyes of the entire world and is being tried at the International Court of Justice on charges of committing genocide against the people of Gaza, is seeking to cover up its own crimes through the political decision it has adopted regarding the events of 1915,” said a foreign ministry statement.

Relations between Israel and Turkey have sharply deteriorated since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023. Israel’s war on the Strip has killed over 73,000 Palestinians and wounded over 173,000 others, according to health authorities.

Turkey has suspended all trade with Tel Aviv over the Gaza war and clashed with Israel over Tel Aviv’s expanding military occupation and illegal incursions across Syria. “Turkey will continue to work resolutely to bring an end to Israel’s expansionist and destabilising policies in the region,” the Turkish foreign ministry stated.

At the same time, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, one of Israel’s fiercest critics, has regularly accused Israel of committing genocide in the Palestinian territory and compared Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to Nazi officials.

Multiple international bodies have recognized that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Most recently, a June 2026 UN commission of inquiry found that Israel continues to commit genocide by deliberately targeting Palestinian children, with 20,000 killed and 44,000 injured since October 2023.

This builds directly upon an earlier UN commission inquiry in September 2025, which found Israel guilty of four out of five acts specified under the 1948 Genocide Convention. Major human rights groups, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Doctors Without Borders, have independently reached the same conclusion.

Despite denying its own genocide against Palestinians, the Israeli Cabinet unanimously approved a resolution recognizing the World War I massacres of Armenians as genocide.

The Armenians seek international recognition that the mass killings of their people under the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1917 amounted to genocide.

They say 1.5 million died, but Turkey strongly denies the accusation of genocide and says that both Armenians and Turks died as a result of the First World War. It puts the death toll in the hundreds of thousands.

The killings have been recognised as genocide by more than two dozen countries, including the United States, France and Germany.

Armenia and Turkey have no diplomatic ties, but the two have signalled interest in warming relations in recent years.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.


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The Israeli gov’t has approved the recognition of the Armenian genocide, but t

Garo Vardanian
UNN, Ukraine

June 28 2026

Kyiv • UNN

June 28 2026, 04:13 PM • 2494 views

The Israeli government unanimously supported the proposal to recognize the Armenian genocide. The decision still needs to be ratified by parliament.

The Israeli government unanimously supported the proposal of Foreign Minister Gideon Saar to recognize the Armenian genocide. This was reported by UNN citing AFP.

Details

The government’s decision still needs to be ratified by the Knesset. If the parliament supports it, Israel will join more than 20 countries that have officially recognized the Armenian genocide, including the United States, France, and Germany.

As AFP notes, this step comes amid a sharp deterioration in relations between Israel and Turkey after the war in the Gaza Strip. Ankara traditionally denies the Armenian genocide and reacts sharply to its international recognition.

The Armenian genocide involved mass killings, deportations, and forced marches carried out by the Ottoman Empire in 1915–1917. Historians estimate that about 1.5 million Armenians died at that time.

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Israel Unanimously Recognizes Armenian Genocide and Refers to Istanbul as Cons

Chakrian Hovsep
Daily Beirut

June 28 2026

Israel’s government unanimously approved recognizing the Armenian genocide and naming Istanbul as Constantinople following a proposal by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.

The Israeli government unanimously agreed to recognize the Armenian genocide and to refer to Istanbul as Constantinople. This decision follows a proposal submitted by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar to acknowledge the Armenian genocide.

The resolution states that Israel, based on its moral and historical commitment, will recognize the genocide committed against the Armenian people at the end of the Ottoman Empire.

The proposal also condemns any denial, minimization, or distortion of the historical facts surrounding these events. The resolution will be submitted to the Knesset for approval.

To date, 23 countries, along with the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches, have recognized the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire. In 2021, former U.S. President Joe Biden became the first American leader to officially recognize the Armenian genocide.

Ankara firmly rejects this characterization of the 1915 events, maintaining that they were not a genocide but rather a war between brothers, with both Armenians and Turks as victims.

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Israel Recognizes Armenian Genocide in Unanimous Cabinet Vote, Acknowledging B

Nahapetian Samvel
Greek City Times
June 28 2026

Israel Recognizes Armenian Genocide in Unanimous Cabinet Vote, Acknowledging Broader Ottoman Atrocities Against Christians

by Bill Giannopoulos

Israel’s government unanimously approved Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s proposal on Sunday, June 28, 2026, to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire during and after World War I. The decision also draws attention to parallel atrocities committed against Greeks (including Pontic and Anatolian Greeks) and Assyrians in the same period.

Historians estimate that approximately 1.5 million Armenians were killed through systematic massacres, forced death marches into the Syrian desert, executions, and starvation between 1915 and 1923. Similar campaigns targeted Ottoman Greek communities (with estimates of hundreds of thousands killed or displaced, particularly in Pontus and western Anatolia) and Assyrian Christians. These events involved widespread destruction of cultural heritage, forced labor, and mass deportations aimed at eliminating Christian populations in the empire. Turkey continues to reject the characterization of these events as genocide.

Erdogan’s Sharp Response

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately condemned the Israeli decision, reiterating accusations of Israeli “genocide” in Gaza and positioning Turkey as a defender of the oppressed. The Israeli Foreign Ministry has previously described Erdogan as a leader who persecutes political opponents, imprisons journalists, targets Kurds, occupies northern Cyprus, and supports jihadist groups.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the recognition “a moral and historical duty,” adding, “It’s never too late to do the right thing.” The resolution is expected to proceed to the Knesset.

Historical and Geopolitical Context

Israel had long refrained from formal recognition partly to preserve relations with Turkey. Ties have deteriorated sharply under Erdogan, who has backed Hamas, severed much of the bilateral trade, and intensified anti-Israel rhetoric. The move comes amid broader regional rivalries and is seen by many as both a moral stance and a diplomatic signal.

The Ottoman campaigns against Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian Christians in the early 20th century are often studied together as interconnected efforts to reshape the empire’s demographics. Recognition by over 30 countries underscores growing international acknowledgment of these historical facts.

This decision has been welcomed by Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian diaspora communities as an important step toward historical truth and justice.

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Israel formally recognises Armenian World War I ‘genocide’

Garnik Zakarian
EURONEWS

June 28 2026
By Manuela Scarpellini & Nathan Rennolds
Published on 28/06/2026 – 14:21 GMT+2•Updated 15:51

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Israel had “fulfilled a moral duty by recognizing the historical truth, and rejecting attempts to deny it”.

Israel has unanimously recognised the mass killings of Armenians during World War I as what it called a genocide.

The move had been proposed by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and was approved by the Israeli government on Sunday.

In a post on X, Sa’ar thanked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his support on the matter and said Israel had “fulfilled a moral duty by recognizing the historical truth, and rejecting attempts to deny it”.

The Armenian “genocide” refers to the systematic elimination and deportation of Armenian Christian people living in the Ottoman Empire from spring 1915 to autumn 1916. It is estimated that between 664,000 and 1.2 million Armenians died as a result, per the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Israel’s decision to recognise it as a genocide comes amid deteriorating relations with Turkey, which have been strained since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023.

Turkey has resisted calls for it to recognise the Armenia massacres as genocide.

The United States, France, Germany and Italy are among the countries to have recognised the killings as genocide.

“The Armenian Genocide remains to this day the subject of an institutionalized campaign of denial and minimization, including a manipulative rewriting of history, mainly by the Turkish government,” Sa’ar said at a cabinet meeting, according to a press release issued by his office. “I think the time has come for Israel, as a Jewish state, to formally accept this position”.

The decision still requires ratification by parliament.

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Armenpress: Israel and Lebanon sign framework agreement with the United States

Emil Lazarian
Near East13:33, 27 June 2026
Read the article in: ArmenianRussian:

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, together with the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors, announced the signing of a framework agreement described as the first step toward peace following months of conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Euronews reported.

Officials have not yet disclosed details of the agreement, which was signed by Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter and Lebanon’s Ambassador to the United States Nada Hamadeh.

Hamadeh said the framework agreement represents the first step toward restoring Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, achieving a permanent and final cessation of hostilities, and enabling the Lebanese people to return to their homes.

Leiter, in turn, said the ultimate goal of the framework agreement is peace between the two countries.

“True peace, where both countries live in security and the sovereignty of Israel and Lebanon is respected, preserved and protected. Through this trilateral framework agreement, based on concrete results, the path to peace between Israel and Lebanon is open,” Leiter said.

Read the article in: ArmenianRussian:

Published by Armenpress, original at 
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