, 08:05 AM
Meretz MK Mossi Raz participates in ceremony despite Israel not formally recognizing event as a genocide
Israeli lawmaker Mossi Raz on Sunday was in Armenia's capital Yerevan for a ceremony marking the anniversary when the Armenian genocide began on April 24, 1915.
A member of Knesset (Israel's parliament) from the left-wing Meretz party, Raz participated in the event despite his country not formally recognizing the genocide and as Israel renews its relations with Turkey, which rejects accusations of genocide pointed at the Ottoman authorities of the time.
Raz laid a wreath at the memorial to the estimated 1.5 million Armenian Christians who died at the hands of the Ottoman Turks from spring 1915 through autumn 1916.
"The time has come to remember the victims everywhere where cruel racism has been expressed," Raz said at the ceremony. "This is our obligation as Jews and humans."
Raz was scheduled to meet on Monday with Armenian Foreign Ministry officials and members of the Armenian parliament.
In 2021, Joe Biden became the first US president to describe the mass killings of Armenians during World War I as a genocide, and on Sunday the leader issued a statement memorializing the systematic killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks.
“As we reflect on the Armenian genocide, we renew our pledge to remain vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms,” Biden said. “We recommit ourselves to speaking out and stopping atrocities that leave lasting scars on the world.”