Israel won't recognize Armenian genocide, says ambassador

"Israel is a democratic country, everybody has two opinions, not one opinion,” Harpaz said. "The government has a very clear opinion.”

He said Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman had made Israel's policy clear.

Harpaz told Trend he hoped Israel's troubled relations with Turkey would improve.

"There are enough common interests and issues in the world for us to cooperate,” Harpaz reportedly said. "I would like to take an example of Turkish Airlines. Turkish Airlines is the biggest foreign airline which is active in Israel. Istanbul is the biggest hub for Israelis. The same goes for tourism, trade which is up. We hope that our political relations with Turkey will improve."

Harpaz has served as Israel's ambassador to Azerbaijan since 2012.