A cynical use of morality

A cynical use of morality

By Haaretz Editorial

Two outrageous new developments have worsened the already tense
relations between Israel and Turkey. Gen. Avi Mizrahi, the head of the
Israel Defense Forces’ Ground Forces issued a tongue-lashing to
Turkey’s prime minister to remind the country of past atrocities. It
goes without saying that as an army man, Gen. Mizrahi is not tasked
with formulating Israel’s foreign policy, nor does he appraise other
countries. But even more grievous is the liberty he took to denounce
and preach morality to a strategic ally, causing a stir in relations
between Israel and Turkey.

At the same time, Israel’s Foreign Ministry pulled out a long worn-out
card, threatening to label the massacre of Armenians in 1915 as
genocide. It is hard to believe that the Foreign Ministry had a sudden
attack of morality regarding the Armenians. For years the ministry has
avoided adopting the word holocaust or genocide regarding the massacre
of Armenians, not only because Israel seeks to preserve its
exclusivity over the word holocaust. Mainly, it knows that adopting
the word genocide in the Armenians’ case would be tantamount to a
diplomatic showdown with Turkey, one that would in all likelihood
result in a severing of ties.

This time the Foreign Ministry apparently decided that the Turkish
prime minister’s blunt statements about Israeli policy deserve a
fitting Israeli response, or at the very least the threat of such a
response. The debate is not whether to define the killing of Armenians
as genocide or a holocaust. This is a moral issue that obligates us to
re-examine history and offer a value-based judgment. The criticism is
aimed at Israel’s trying to make political use of the Armenian issue
to “punish” Turkey for daring to be so insolent as to condemn the
military operation, whose results are a matter of controversy even in
Israel.

Turkey is one of Israel’s most important allies even if its prime
minister does not always express an understanding of our policies or
resorts to insulting language. The Foreign Ministry’s main efforts
should thus be geared toward containing the dispute and restoring the
relationship to its proper course. If Israel seeks to alter its stance
on the question of the murder of the Armenians, it would be wise to do
so at a more appropriate time, from a worthy position of morality and
not as a way to make threats. It shouldn’t happen whenever a
disagreement erupts with Turkey.

As for Gen. Mizrahi, perhaps the chief of staff should let his
subordinates know when they are overstepping the bounds of their
authority. In a different era, one would have expected the general to
be relieved of his duties because of his comments.