Wednesday, March 13 2019 20:12

ArmInfo. Cooperation with Israel  will allow Armenia to change the regional balance of power in its  favor. This opinion was expressed by ArmInfo Israeli political  scientist, public figure Avigdor Eskin.

"In any case, the breakthrough decision of Yerevan towards expanding its own diplomatic  representation in Israel leads precisely in this direction.  Especially, this process is significantly weakened by Iran's  influence in the region. Thus, eliminating this obstacle gives our  countries closer perspectives," said he.Recall that a few days ago  Israel was visited by an Armenian delegation headed by Deputy Foreign  Minister of Armenia 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.According to Eskin's forecasts, in case of  successful continuation of the started process, Israel can render  Armenia substantial assistance in the development of the IT sphere,  technological agriculture, medicine and, of course, defense. At the  same time, according to his estimates, the Israeli experience of  working with the diaspora may turn out to be more important for  Armenia than even the interaction of security and intelligence  structures."In addition to opening embassies and consulates in  Israel, the opening of an Armenian cultural center in Jerusalem is  also expected. Of course, Israel's response steps towards a  diplomatic presence in Armenia will not be delayed. 

Thus, this embassy will be more than just an embassy," he said.  political scientist.According to Eskin, the existing trade, economic  and strategic cooperation of Israel with Azerbaijan, and Armenia with  Iran looks unnatural. And trade between Israel and Azerbaijan has  already reached billionths of a turn. According to Western media,  this strategic cooperation allows the Mossad to work in the Iranian  direction from the territory of Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, the United  States is doing this from the territory of Armenia."Of course, the  acquisition of Israeli weapons by Azerbaijan causes extreme  dissatisfaction with Armenia. And this is against the background of  how Armenia's strategic ally, Russia, sells weapons to Azerbaijan  three times more than Israel. At the same time, we are ready to sell  the same types of weapons to Armenia. It's clear weapons are far from  the only area of disagreement between Yerevan and Jerusalem. However,  in the light of the success of the recent successful visit of the  delegation of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, there is hope for  successfully overcoming these differences, "concluded Eskin.In an  interview with The JerusalemPost, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister  Grigor Hovhannisyan, who is on a visit to Israel, said that Armenia's  desire to stop Israeli arms supplies to Azerbaijan is in no way a  condition for improving relations with Israel. 

At the same time, he stressed that Yerevan also does not exclude the  possibility of cooperation with Israel in the field of defense.Israel  has officially supplied weapons to Azerbaijan since 2012. According  to the latest data of the Department of Defense Export of the Israeli  Ministry of Defense, 13% of total Israeli arms exports of $ 9.1  billion in 2017 accounted for Azerbaijan. Thus, Azerbaijan ranked  third after India and Vietnam among importers of Israeli weapons.  Thus, Israel is the second partner of Azerbaijan in the world arms  market after Russia, only a billion behind the total Russian defense  contracts with Baku in $ 5 billion.