System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian on Monday criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government after Israel formally recognized the Armenian genocide, accusing Israel of exploiting Armenian history for political purposes.
For years, he said in a video posted to his Instagram story, Israel used AIPAC to lobby the U.S. Congress against recognizing the Armenian genocide because of its ties with Turkey and intelligence cooperation with Ankara.
“Today, the Netanyahu Cabinet decided to recognize the Armenian genocide of 1915,” Tankian said. “The genocide that led Hitler thinking that he could do what he could do to the Jews in the 1930s and ’40s.”
Tankian then accused Israel of “already committing genocide in Gaza and Lebanon” and said its recognition of the genocide of his grandparents was “the worst [expletive] thing that they could have done to Armenians by using our history, our genocide, our pain to their political advantage.” He ended the video by saying: “Fuck you.”
System of a Down is an Armenian American metal band formed in California in 1994. Its members, all of Armenian descent, are known for blending metal with political and social messages, especially advocacy for recognition of the Armenian genocide. The band has sold tens of millions of albums worldwide and won a Grammy Award in 2006 for “B.Y.O.B.”
Serj Tankian (right) performs with System of a Down
(Photo: AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)
Israel’s government unanimously approved Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s proposal Sunday to recognize the Armenian genocide.
“It is never too late to do the right thing,” Sa’ar said.
The move is expected to further worsen tensions between Israel and Turkey. Israel had long avoided official recognition, in part because of the sensitivity of relations with Turkey and efforts to avoid deepening the crisis between the countries.