Thursday, August 20 2020 16:48

ArmInfo. In the middle of September this year, the official opening ceremony of the Armenian Embassy in Israel will take place in Tel Aviv.

Premises on Tel Aviv Boulevard have already been rented. In parallel  with this, the Israel-Armenia friendship group is being formed in the  Knesset. Armenian Ambassador to Israel Armen Smbatyan, who has  already left for Tel Aviv, is holding courtesy meetings with various  leaders of the country and with heads of diplomatic missions  accredited in Israel.

The Armenian Ambassador also took part in discussions on the program  "In diplomatic circles" on Iton TV and answered questions about the  supply of Israeli weapons to Baku, about the problem of Israel's  recognition of the Armenian Genocide, about anti-Semitism in Armenia,  about Armenia's ties with Iran and much more.

Thus, referring to the call of the RA Foreign Minister Zohrab  Mnatsakanyan to Israel to stop selling deadly weapons to Azerbaijan,  Smbatyan said in particular: "The Armenian Foreign Minister, having  declared the inadmissibility of Israel's sale of weapons to  Azerbaijan, meant that it is impossible to use weapons to destroy  civilians. This is absolutely understandable and should be supported  by everyone. " Clarifying why Mnatsakanyan did not voice a similar  call to Russia, which also sells arms to Azerbaijan, Smbatyan  recalled the special relations between Armenia and Russia. "We have  allied relations, we are cooperating within the CSTO, our countries  have been developing relations in all areas for decades, including  through the military-industrial complex. We know perfectly well how  we communicate with Russia, what it does and why," the diplomat  assured while agreeing that the arms market is free and no one can  restrict the right of states to buy or sell weapons.

At the same time, answering the question why Armenia decided to open  an embassy in Israel now, especially considering that diplomatic  relations between the two states were established back in 1992, the  ambassador stated that the time was ripe right now. "Then this issue  was not so urgent, there were other issues, problems. Now this issue  has matured, and our state has understood that it is necessary to  communicate with Israel, since this is a unique state, whose friend  you need to be. And to be a friend, you need to develop relations and  ties in the economic, humanitarian and other sectors, "the diplomat  said.

Meanwhile, clarifying whether the issue of Israel's non-recognition  of the Armenian Genocide would be a kind of obstacle to the  development of Armenian-Israeli relations, Smbatyan stated that it  was the representatives of the Jewish nation who made a serious  contribution to the promotion of this issue, and the author of the  term "genocide" is a Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin. He is convinced  that this issue will not affect the nature of bilateral relations.  "The time will come and they will recognize. Moreover, I have a large  circle of acquaintances where there are also many Jews, and I can say  with confidence that I do not know a single Jew who would not  recognize the Genocide, just as I do not know a single Armenian who  does not recognize the Holocaust, "Smbatyan said, assuring that  consistent work will be carried out and Israel will definitely  recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Clarifying how much anti-Semitism is characteristic of modern  Armenia, the ambassador assured that the nationalism in not common  for Armenians, moreover, many in the republic do not even know what  the phrase anti-Semitism means. At the same time, he assured that  those ill-wishers who seek to spoil relations between Armenia and  Israel will not achieve success, they will not succeed.

Considering the difficult relations between Israel and Iran and the  friendly nature of the Armenian-Iranian relations, the ambassador was  also asked whether the Tehran factor would be used in the  Armenian-Israeli relations, and the Tel Aviv factor in the  Armenian-Iranian relations, to which the ambassador noted that there  is no need in that. "We have excellent relations with Iran. Armenia,  bordering on four states, today interacts with only two - Georgia and  Iran. Tehran helped us in difficult years. Today we have good-  neighborly relations. Iran cannot in any way influence the Armenian  -Israeli relations. No third state has the moral right to interfere  in our bilateral relations with Israel. We must build relations from  scratch, and no one has the right to interfere in this, "the diplomat  assured.