By Bosphorus News Geopolitics Desk
The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem accused Azerbaijan of influencing the shelving of a planned Knesset vote on Armenian genocide recognition. The accusation came weeks after Israel's government approved formal recognition on June 28 and presented the decision to parliament on June 30.
In a July 26 statement, the Patriarchate said it was disappointed that the measure had been removed before lawmakers could vote. It questioned how a foreign government could influence the agenda of Israel's parliament and urged Israeli authorities to resist external pressure.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar told the Knesset on June 30 that the government's decision constituted Israel's formal recognition of the Armenian genocide.
The Knesset's official record said the government had presented the decision to parliament with the aim of bringing it before the plenum for a later vote. That vote did not take place.
The Knesset's June 30 record announcing the Israeli government's recognition decision and a planned subsequent plenum vote. Source: Knesset (knesset.gov.il)
Haaretz reported on July 19, citing a source, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had blocked the planned vote following pressure from Azerbaijan. The newspaper said Hikmet Hajiyev, foreign policy adviser to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, did not respond to its request for comment.
An official contact at Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry told Bosphorus News that they had no information on the matter and offered no comment. This was not a formal ministry response.
No public Azerbaijani statement or Israeli government document has confirmed the allegation.
The Patriarchate also cited the displacement of more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians from Karabakh after Azerbaijan's September 2023 military operation, describing it as ethnic cleansing.
In statement No. 121 issued on June 28, Türkiye's Foreign Ministry rejected Israel's Armenian genocide recognition decision as politically motivated. It accused the Israeli government of using the 1915 issue to divert attention from its conduct toward Palestinians and the pending genocide case before the International Court of Justice.
The statement was later circulated worldwide through the official channels of Turkish embassies, consulates and permanent missions. The diplomatic posts reproduced the ministry's central statement rather than issuing separate responses.
The government's recognition decision remains in force, but the promised Knesset vote has not been held. Neither Israel nor Azerbaijan has publicly explained why it was removed from the parliamentary track.
Sources: Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, The Knesset, Haaretz, Türkiye's Foreign Ministry, Associated Press, The Armenian Report, Bosphorus News review and reporting.