Monday, August 7 2017 17:05

ArmInfo.The growth of Israel's interest in Transcaucasus and Central Asia from year to year is difficult to notice. Russian analyst, expert on the South Caucasus  Sergey Markedonov expressed such an opinion to ArmInfo. 

"In Jerusalem, Caucasus is viewed as a region adjacent to the Middle  East because of geographical, military-political and economic  reasons." For Israel, Armenia and Azerbaijan are neighbors of its  main geopolitical opponent of Iran, while all the states of the South  Caucasus are allies or opponents involved In the Middle East  processes, key non-regional actors in US and Russia, "he said.

At the same time, according to the analyst's estimates, it is rather  difficult to classify the Caucasus as one of the most important  priorities of Israeli foreign policy. In his view, much more Israel  is concerned about the Middle East: the settlement of the Palestinian  conflict, a sharp confrontation with Iran, relations with the Arab  world, in particular, with neighboring Egypt and Turkey.

However, during previous  25 years the situation, in Markedonov's  view, was not standing still.  Complicated and contradictory changes  in the relations between Turkey and Israel led to a crisis and even a  "cold peace" that left an unpleasant residue by December 2015. The  growing Islamisation of Turkish politics, among other things, is  based on "Palestinophilism." The positions of Baku and Jerusalem do  not coincide on this issue either. "It is from here in Israel that a  request is made to distance itself from Turkish interests and the  desire to establish relations with Armenia based on the logic of  bilateral benefits." The rhetoric of Jerusalem was significantly  softened, especially in recent years, regarding the events of 1915.   Moreover, the establishment formed opinions in favor of their  recognition of the Genocide. However, for a radical demolition over  the years of the existing trend, all these positions do not yet reach  a critical mass, "the analyst is convinced.

Markedonov also sees Yerevan's counter-request for building pragmatic  relations with Jerusalem, as Armenia does on the American and  European tracks. He estimates that this is due, in part, to the  growing confrontation between the West and Russia and Iran, as well  as the threat of the positions of the three co- chairs of the OSCE  Minsk Group on Karabakh threatening the existing consensus. "The  situation around Iran, Washington's readiness to reconsider the  previous line of Barack Obama in favor of stricter positions, the  conflict in Syria, the reception of a significant number of refugees,  require at least a serious conversation between Armenian diplomats  and their colleagues from Israel," the analyst said.