The Israeli Knesset will sooner or later recognize the Armenian Genocide.
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edlestein noted the aforementioned on Thursday at the meeting with the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia on Foreign Relations, Artak Zakaryan.
Edelstein underscored the importance of the development of inter-parliamentary ties and the age-long friendship between the Armenian and Jewish peoples, the NA press-service informed Armenian News – NEWS.am. He expressed readiness to further exert every effort towards enhancing the cooperation in all spheres, in particular, culture, tourism, economics and especially agriculture. Edelstein also stressed the importance of the role of Armenian and Jewish communities in the development of the state.
According to the Speaker, Knesset will sooner or later recognize the Armenian Genocide. In this context, he expressed regret over the fact that the Israeli parliament has not so far officially recognized the Armenian Genocide. However, in his words, a number of steps have been taken in this direction recently.
“I am not at all proud of the fact that Israel has not so far recognized the Armenian Genocide, but I should mention that certain progress has already been recorded in this direction,” he stressed.
The Israeli official also expressed hope that in the future it will be possible to find peaceful solutions to unresolved conflicts. He promised to contribute to the process of organizing private meetings between Armenian and Israeli officials, as well as maintaining active inter-parliamentary ties.
Artak Zakaryan, for his part, stressed the important role of the inter-parliamentary ties in the development of interstate relations, implementation of joint programs in the spheres of mutual interest, as well as in terms of long-term political cooperation.
He also underscored the importance of the memorandum of cooperation signed recently by Armenian NA Speaker Galust Sahakyan and his Israeli counterpart Yuli Edelstein, as well as the recently formed Armenian-Israeli Public International Forum.
Zakaryan expressed hope that the results of the second forum, which is to be held in Tel-Aviv on January 19, may ne significant, contributing to the mutually beneficial public relations in a number of spheres.
Apart from this, the Committee Chairman riefed the Knesset Speaker on the situation in the region and Armenia’s position on their resolution.
By the end of the meeting, Edelstein wished success to the Armenian NA in holding the upcoming elections, expressing hope that the ties will remain active in the newly-elected parliament.