ArmInfo.Considering that double standards will leave world politics, let's say, not very soon, Armenia and Israel can develop only selective interaction, which does not arouse suspicion of "alternative" partners. Researcher at the Center for the Study of Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Ural-Volga Region of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Andrei Areshev a similar opinion expressed to ArmInfo
"However, after the successful visit of the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to Iran in February, it is by no means possible that the deepening of relations between Yerevan and West Jerusalem will allow to gain additional opportunities to harmonize regional interests, parties to the Middle East conflict. Hopefully, it will contribute to a more balanced Israeli policy in the Caucasus and the implementation of joint projects with Armenia in the humanitarian sector, "the expert stressed.
According to his estimates, Israel's interest in the South Caucasus is primarily due to a consistent policy to contain Iran. Including through the use of adjacent territories of states neighboring with Iran. In turn, the interest and desire of Armenia to expand contacts with Israel is quite understandable. Countries whose direct and indirect influence extends far beyond the borders of the Middle East.
At the same time, according to Areshev, the new potential partners of Armenia will act with restraint and pragmatically, striving not only to gain additional benefits, but also to strengthen their own geopolitical positions in the Caucasus. The expert is deterred by Israel's unwillingness to recognize the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire from excessive optimism. And this is despite the rather tough differences with Turkey. This position of Areshev causes the desire to monopolize the Holocaust, as well as the long- term political and commercial interests of Israel. In particular, the arms business in which Azerbaijan partially replaced Turkey.
At the same time, in the opinion of Areshev, Yerevan, of course, would have welcomed Israel's refusal to sell weapons to Azerbaijan as a party to the unresolved Karabakh conflict, as some Western countries have done. However, even the weapon factor is not a precondition for establishing full-fledged relations with Israel for Armenia. Moreover, Yerevan does not exclude the prospects of cooperation with Israel in the sector of military-technical cooperation and for itself.
"However, in any situation, the establishment of such a format of Armenian-Israeli cooperation seems to be a question not for tomorrow. Relationship issues can only be discussed after the final formation of the ruling coalition by Benjamin Netanyahu. Although the background and some small steps to this format can discussed today, " the Russian expert summed up.