How did you feel when the Knesset vote to recognize the Armenian Genocide was canceled?
“Armenia is extremely concerned about its security issues, especially with respect to Nagorno-Karabakh (an enclave inside Azerbaijan, which has unilaterally declared its disengagement from the secular Muslim country. Armenia, which has a Christian majority, has been in conflict with its Muslim Azeri neighbors for many years-JP.) People there are in danger. It is well-known, that Israel sold weapons to Azerbaijan. That doesn’t mean that we would not like to develop realtions with Israel, including in the military field.”
Does it bother you that our countries do not have embassies in each other’s country?
Artak Zakaryan, who until recently served as Armenia’s deputy defense minister and chairman of the Armenian-Israeli Parliamentary Friendship League, is the driving force behind the new flights between the two countries. “Our relationship with Israel is very important,” Zakaryan says. “Like us, Israel is a small country surrounded by enemies, and we would love for our economy to be as strong as yours. We are pushing to expand our tourist-related interaction to the defense arena – and not because we fear the Russians. I think we haven’t done enough to accomplish this and in the meantime Azerbaijan and Georgia managed to establish closer relations with Israel.”
“Israel needs to ask itself where its values lie,” says Dr. Chen Bram, a research fellow at the Truman Institute of the Hebrew University. “On the one hand, Azerbaijan is an important ally for Israel, and we should not jeopardize this relationship. And of course relations with Turkey are particularly complex. On the other hand, maybe Israel can actually help bring about peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Israel should be able to stand up to Azerbaijan and say, ‘We are your ally, but we would like to establish relations with Armenia, too, and you should not view this as a move that will harm our relations.’ This might cause a bit of an uproar at first, but it’s possible to do. I think it’s a shame Israel hasn’t made such an effort until now.”
Do you think Israel should recognize the Armenian Genocide?
“Israel should not have the sole rights to using the term genocide,” continues Bram. “A number of countries that have diplomatic relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey have recognized the Armenian Genocide. I’m not saying it will go over smoothly, but things will eventually settle down. A number of Israeli representatives in Yerevan made inappropriate comments about the Jews’ unique connection with the Holocaust, but we need to accept that each genocide has its own special characteristics. And we cannot deny that the Armenian Genocide and the world’s reaction to it had a paramount effect on the Nazis’ ability to carry out the Shoah. Israel has lots of room to make improvements in this area. Luckily, the Armenians know how most Israelis feel about this issue, but this does not absolve us of the responsibility to make this change official.”
Translated by Hannah Hochner.