The government voted Sunday to recognize the Armenian genocide in a move that was sure to antagonize Turkey, which accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza but fiercely denies the charge applies to the Ottoman Empire’s wholesale killing of Armenians during World War I.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who had announced last week that he would bring the recognition to a cabinet vote on Sunday, wrote on X after the bill passed unanimously that “it’s never too late to do the right thing.”

“Israel joins 32 countries that have fulfilled a moral duty by recognizing the historical truth, and rejecting attempts to deny it,” Sa’ar wrote.

In a Hebrew-language video statement, he said: “This horrifying genocide, which took place over 100 years ago, and whose facts are not really up for debate, included the murder of 1.5 million people and the destruction of an ancient and historic cultural heritage.”

“In my view, it’s our moral imperative as Jews — and certainly as the state of the Jewish nation — to make the decision that we made today,” Sa’ar said.

In a bid to avoid tension with Turkey, Israel had long refrained from using the word “genocide” to refer to the campaign of massacres, imprisonment and forced deportation that the Ottoman Empire, Turkey’s forerunner, committed against Armenians in the empire’s final years.

It's never too late to do the right thing. I thank @IsraeliPM Netanyahu for his support, and the government ministers for their unanimous approval of the resolution I initiated for Israel's........

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