ArmInfo."Armenians see Israel as a model of development with a lot to learn from in defense, healthcare engineering and agriculture," Armenian Ambassador to Israel Arman Akopian stressed this in his interview to the Israeli edition of JNS.
According to the source, the ambassador readily expounds upon the traits shared by Armenians and Jews: both ancient peoples who went through modern tragedies-the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide-with a large Diaspora; both intellectually-oriented and tech-focused peoples with small countries that are bordered by Muslim nations.
As the author of the publication notes: "Diplomacy and geopolitics: a complex mixture for the Armenian Ambassador to Israel", the Ambassador admits that serving as Armenian ambassador to Israel is "challenging, exciting and difficult."" It's not an easy country for a diplo," he said.
As the JNS correspondent notes, the reason for this boils down to two countries: Israel's arch-enemy Iran, and Armenia's arch-enemy Azerbaijan.
As the article notes, Two years ago, just months after opening its embassy in Tel Aviv, Armenia recalled its ambassador, angered at Israeli arms sales to oil-rich Azerbaijan during a 2020 war between the two ex-Soviet countries. At the same time, Israel has warily watched as Christian Armenia becomes an ever-larger trade partner of the Islamic Republic, even as Yerevan professes a desire for good ties with the Jewish state. "This intricate chessboard of geopolitics has strained if not damaged Israeli- Armenian ties as the countries juggle their interests in the region.. For Israel, ties with Muslim Azerbaijan-which shares a border with Iran-are of strategic importance, as a conduit for reconnaissance (25% of the Iranians are in fact Azeris) but also because it supplies Israel an estimated 40% of its oils needs and is a leading purchaser of Israeli military hardware, particularly drones. Over a decade ago, then-Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman famously quipped that "Azerbaijan is more important for Israel than France." The Armenian ambassador says he is hopeful that a peace treaty will be worked out between the longtime arch-enemies, citing the landmark 2020 Abraham Accords between Arab countries and Israel as a case in point. "It has to happen," he says, believing that "No war lasts forever".
Speaking about achieving peace with Azerbaijan, he noted: "Peace with Azerbaijan is a matter of when not if, Akopian said. "We are neighbors. We have no other option but to sign a peace agreement," he said.."