By ETHAN BRONNER
JERUSALEM — The Israeli Parliament on Monday held its first public debate on whether to commemorate the Turkish genocide of Armenians nearly a century ago, an emotionally resonant and politically fraught topic for Israel, founded on the ashes of the Holocaust and trying to salvage frayed ties with Turkey.
The session resulted from a rare confluence of political forces — an effort under way for decades by some on the left to get Israel to take a leading role in bringing attention to mass murder, combined with those on the right angry at how Turkey has criticized Israel over its policies toward the Palestinians.
Previous efforts to declare one day a year a memorial for “the massacre of the Armenian people” have failed, and hearings on the topic were restricted to closed sessions of the Parliament’s defense and foreign affairs committee because of concerns over Turkey’s reaction, especially at a time when relations were friendlier.
But with Turkey having recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv, the hearing was moved this year to the education committee, where sessions are open. The debate was on live television.
“As a people and as a country we stand and face the whole world with the highest moral demand that Holocaust denial is something human history cannot accept,” Reuven Rivlin, the speaker of the Parliament, who has favored official recognition of the genocide, said in his testimony. “Therefore we cannot deny the tragedy of others.”
More than 15 countries have officially labeled as genocide the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians in the chaos connected to World War I and the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. Its denial is a crime in Switzerland and Slovenia.
Turkey acknowledges atrocities occurred, but not any specific death toll.
At Monday’s hearing, some advocates of commemorating the massacre said their efforts had nothing to do with politics or with the Turkey of today. Rather, they said, the goal was to educate young Israelis about genocide and publicly assert the need to prevent such acts.
But officials from the Foreign Ministry said relations with Turkey were fragile and that passing such a resolution could have bad strategic consequences.
After Israel invaded Gaza three years ago to stop rocket fire by Palestinian militants, Turkey expressed anger. A year and a half ago, the Israeli navy stopped a Turkish-sponsored flotilla from going to Gaza, killing nine activists aboard. Turkey demanded an apology and compensation. When Israel refused, ties were downgraded.
Otniel Schneller, a legislator from the opposition Kadima Party, spoke against the commemoration, saying the region was growing more hostile to Israel in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings and that Israel had to be pragmatic.
“This is the time when we must rehabilitate our relations with Turkey because this is an existential issue for us,” he said. “Sometimes our desire to be right and moral overcomes our desire to exist, which is in the interest of the entire country.”
The committee took no action, agreeing to meet again.
www.nytimes.com, December 26, 2011
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