Hon. Haim Horon,Chairman, Meretz
Knesset
State of Israel
Mr. Oron,
I have read in the press that the Israel Knesset is being urged to take up the issue of the Armenian Genocide. I am sending you this note to ask you not to take this action, as I believe it to be very misguided and will only lead to further problems and difficulty for Israel.
I also want to say up front that both of my parents were in Auschwitz so this issue has particular resonance and meaning for me.
Israel’s relations with Turkey are in a difficult stage to be sure. I do not need to recount what has occurred in Turkey-Israel relations. The history of these relations has had its ups and downs, and there are important political and military ties between the two countries.
My objections to the Knesset taking up this issue:
1. This action will interfere with any hope of improving relations between Israel and Turkey. We all know the events that have occurred, and frankly, who needed the “sofa” crisis with the Turkish Ambassador with everything else that had gone on? Now that is thankfully past, so now why in the world would the Knesset debate the most incendiary issue for Turks, the Armenian issue? This is not the time or the place for this debate.
2. Why should Israel be the world’s arbiter of what is and is not a genocide? I believe that the Holocaust was a unique event in the history of the world, and it was certainly a genocide. The other atrocities in the world should be judged by the people of the world and by the historians — why should Israel put itself forward as the judge of what is or is not genocide? On the Armenia issue for example, as you well know, there are divisions among historians about what occurred almost 100 years ago. This is a discussion that should take place among historians in the context of the historical sub-commission to be established by the Turkey-Armenia protocols, which will promote normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia.
3. With the situation in Iran, and all of the challenges that Israel faces, why would Israel take on the one issue that will possibly lead to a complete tsunami disaster in Turkey-Israel relations? This seems to me an utterly foolish step at this very difficult time in Israeli and world politics.
4. In the volatile Middle East, Israel’s diplomacy should be working towards improving relations with Turkey not creating crises — and this Armenian issue will surely precipitate a gigantic crisis if it proceeds to the Knesset.
5. You will note that although a US House of Representatives Committee (unwisely) recently passed a non-binding resolution to urge President Obama to characterize the events in Armenia as “genocide” in his statement on Armenian Remembrance Day (April 24th), the President did not in fact follow this advice and he (very wisely) avoided the use of the term “genocide” in his statement. The full House of Representatives is unlikely to take this issue any further, in light of the President’s opposition (because he is mindful of the impact such an action would have on US-Turkey relations). The Knesset should take a strong cue from what happened in the US, and drop the issue at the outset.
I would ask you to please reconsider any action which puts this issue before the Knesset or any of its committees. This issue belongs with the historians, not with the politicians. And Israel does not need to be in the forefront on this issue. It has many other, including existential, issues to deal with, and that is where its focus should be, not engaging in the interpretation of complex historical events.
If the Knesset goes forward with this, will the next committee of the Knesset be called on to decide whether Cortes committed genocide when the Spanish Conquistadors brought deadly diseases with them to the new world and wiped out the native people, and then will the Knesset take up and evaluate each and every atrocity in the history of the world, and decide if it is a “genocide”? Is the Knesset of the State of Israel the authoritative forum to make decisions like this? I think not.
Thank you very much for allowing me to respectfully express my views to you. The State of Israel needs all the friends it can garner, and should not take impolitic steps that will further possibly further alienate Israel in the world arena.
Respectfully,
Mark Meirowitz
New York City
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