The Armenian Genocide museum in Der Zor, Syria, location of a major Ottoman extermination site for Armenians. Photo: Further to Fly via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – An Israeli Knesset committee has announced that it recognizes the Armenian Genocide, encouraging the Israeli government to formally adopt the move.

“It is our moral obligation to recognize the holocaust of the Armenian nation,” said the Education, Culture and Sports Committee chairman MK Yaakov Margi (Shas.)

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein asked in early July for the state of Israel to recognize the 1915 genocide during World War I when 1.5 million Armenians were murdered by the Ottoman Turkish Empire in their homeland.

But as Israel is waiting to normalize relations with Turkey following a signed agreement last month, it is not clear if and when the Israeli government will officially recognize the Armenian genocide.

Chairwoman of the Armenian National Committee in Jerusalem, Georgette Avakian, spoke to the Knesset about the fact that numerous parliaments around the world and 31 countries have already recognized the genocide.

“The Knesset and the president of the state must recognize the genocide of our nation,” she said.