Former ambassador: Over the past 25 years, relations between Armenia and Israel have not reached the level that Jerusalem and Yerevan seek for today

ArmInfo. Over the past 25 years, relations between Armenia and Israel have not reached the level that Jerusalem and Yerevan are today seeking, but recently there has been a favorable atmosphere for expanding cooperation and rapprochement between the two countries, "the first Israeli ambassador to Armenia, a member of the public forum" Armenia -Azrail, "Professor of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem Baruch Ben-Neria.

"The countries of the South Caucasus and Central Asia, whose peoples have historically positively treated Israel, played a special role in our desire to expand diplomatic, economic and other relations with states created on the ruins of the USSR. Israel also tried to create a pro-Israel political space in these areas, reducing Iran's influence. The South Caucasus is a crossroads of countries and regions, attracting the attention of the United States, Russia, Turkey, Iran, the EU and China, and its proximity to the Middle East has a significant impact on world stability and global changes in general, "the professor notes in his article in Maariv daily. According to him, since the 1990s Israel has become a significant geopolitical player in the South Caucasus, having established and developing at various levels of intensity relations with Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. The diplomat is convinced that Israel's implementation of diplomatic relations with Armenia through the non-resident ambassador in Jerusalem is naturally expressed in limited amounts of mutual economic and political activity. Among the prerequisites for the leadership of Israel to avoid traveling to Yerevan, the diplomat called the strategic cooperation between Israel and Turkey until May 2010, when the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara tried to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

An important strategic and political factor for Israel is Azerbaijan. For a long time, Jerusalem has refrained from promoting its relations with Yerevan, so as not to damage cooperation with Baku, which has unprecedented significance for Israel in terms of building relations with the Islamic world. "Nevertheless, the visit of the Minister of Agriculture of Israel Orit Noket to Armenia in 2012 was a real breakthrough in our relations. During this visit, concrete projects in the field of agriculture, technology and economy in the field of insurance of fishing and investment risks were discussed and signed. After the deputy speaker of the Knesset Tali Ploskov became the head of the corresponding friendship group, inter-parliamentary relations between our countries became more active, "the Israeli diplomat summed up.