ArmInfo.Armenia should strive for the level of relations with Israel, which excludes the sale of Israeli weapons to our opponent - Azerbaijan. Such opinion expressed to ArmInfo Tevan Poghosyan, President of the International Center for Human Development, and Advisor to the President of Armenia
Recently, in an interview with The Jerusalem Post, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Grigor Hovhannisian, who is in Israel on a visit, said that Armenia's desire to stop Israeli arms supplies to Azerbaijan is by no means a condition for improving relations with Israel. "We want our friends to know that the sale of arms to Azerbaijan goes beyond the scope of a business deal and has consequences for us. Armenia also does not rule out the possibility of cooperation with the Israeli defense sector," the Armenian diplomat said.
Israel has officially supplied weapons to Azerbaijan since 2012. The total amount of deliveries over these years amounted to about $ 4 billion. According to the latest data of the Department of Defense Export of the Israeli Defense Ministry, in 2017 Azerbaijan accounted for 13% of total Israeli arms exports of $ 9.1 billion. Thus, Azerbaijan ranked third after India and Vietnam among importers of Israeli weapons. Israel is the second after Russia partner of Azerbaijan in the world arms market, only a billion behind the total Russian defense contracts with Baku at $ 5 billion.
Baku mainly purchases UAVs, armored vehicles, electronic intelligence, air defense, anti-tank missiles from Israel. At the beginning of June 2018, the presentation of the Israeli operational-tactical complex LORA with a maximum range of 300 km was held in Baku. Since 2018, the Israeli company Aeronautics and the Ministry of Defense Industry of Azerbaijan have been implementing a joint project of AZAD Systems to create unmanned aircraft on the territory of Azerbaijan. The latest Israeli acquisitions of Baku were 50 missiles to 4 LORA launchers and 100 light SkyStriker drone drones.
"Accordingly, we should not raise this issue at the negotiation stage in the direction of deepening our own relations with Israel. Yes, Armenia should do everything possible to stop the supply of Israeli weapons to Azerbaijan, but this should be done exclusively through diplomatic efforts, by increasing self-worth and result of the importance of diplomatic relations. Only in this way can we overcome difficulties, and even use some of them in the interests of Armenia ", he stressed.
According to Poghosyan, today the opening of the Armenian Embassy and active work in Israel are fully based on the interests of Armenia. In his view, they adhere to a similar position in Israel, especially since both countries have long been accredited ambassadors. In this light, the counselor is confident that the opening of the Armenian Embassy in Israel will entail a reciprocal step of Jerusalem.
"With independence, Armenia overcame not only such difficulties. I think we will overcome the existing ones. Accordingly, the sooner we start working with Israel, the more correct it will be for us. In the end, the Armenian embassy in Russia didn't prevent multi-billion deliveries of Russian weapons to the same Azerbaijan. Therefore, our diplomats will have to work actively not only in Israel, " Poghosyan concluded.
The other day, Israel was visited by an Armenian delegation headed by Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigor Hovhannisyan. During the visit, the opening of the embassy in Israel was discussed with a view to bringing relations to a new, higher level. During the meetings in Jerusalem, the Armenian delegation also discussed organizational issues related to the upcoming visit of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan to Israel.