Knesset committee debates Armenian genocide claims

The Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee, headed by lawmaker Alex Miller, began discussing the issue in a public hearing. The session was also attended by Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin.

The committee considered a proposal to designate a memorial day for the killings and recognize them as genocide.

Israel's deputy foreign minister, who has been extremely critical of Turkey, did not appear before the parliamentary committee as planned.

The panel made no decision on Monday.

Rivlin told Army Radio on Monday that the Knesset has been holding similar discussions for years, insisting that the move was not in response to any events in the United States or France.

"As the Israeli parliament, as Jews," Rivlin said, "we have a responsibility not to forget genocide," he was quoted as saying by the Israeli daily The Jerusalem Post.

The Israeli move comes days after French lawmakers approved a bill that penalized denial of the “Armenian genocide” in France. Despite strong protests by Turkey, the French National Assembly -- the lower house of parliament -- voted overwhelmingly in favor of the bill last Thursday, which will now be debated next year in the senate. The bill makes denial of the alleged Armenian genocide a crime punishable by a one-year prison sentence and a fine of 45,000 euros.

Israeli Consulate in İstanbul said in a statement it released on Monday that while Israel believes the events surrounding the 1915 incidents should be debated, it is also the view point of Israel that such a debate should be done in an open forum, an academic atmosphere, based on facts and research.

"It is not the position of the State of Israel that any such research, would be assisted by political discourse," the statement said.

Turkey, which vehemently rejects the term "genocide" for the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians, saying the issue should be left to historians, was outraged by the French move and diminished ties with Paris and recalled its ambassador in France to Turkey for consultations for an indefinite period of time.

In recent years, former parliamentarian Haim Oron repeatedly attempted to raise the issue with the Knesset's education panel, with government officials moving to cancel the debate. Last year, amid a deterioration in Turkey-Israel ties, Oron was granted approval to discuss the alleged genocide in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meetings, which are closed to the media.

In 2007 the Knesset decided to shelve a proposal for a parliamentary discussion on the Armenian genocide, in compliance with then Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's request.

The latest Knesset move is likely to further deteriorate Turkish-Israeli ties, which were badly damaged last year after Israel raided the Mavi Marmara, carrying humanitarian aid during an attempt to breach the Gaza blockade, which Turkey says is illegal. The storming of the ship left nine Turkish civilians dead, including an American citizen.

Turkey demands an official apology, compensation for the families of victims and an end to the blockade. Israel only expressed regret over the incident and claims its soldiers acted in self defense.