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ARMENIA-ISRAEL: WILL THE NEW AMBASSADOR USHER IN NEW STAGE IN ARMENIAN-ISRAELI RELATIONS?
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow
01.11.10 | 13:56
Analysis
Meirom (left) told Sargsyan Israel wants to raise bilateral relations
with Armenia to an excellent level.
Israel's new Ambassador to Armenia Shmuel Meirom submitted his
credential to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan last week. The
submission of credentials, as a rule, is seen as a usual protocol
event, but in this case, it was a bit more.
The political accents of the appointment of a new Israeli ambassador
to Armenia fit well into the context of fundamentally new regional
realities, namely, sharp complications in Turkish-Israeli relations.
At present, the situation in the region is such that Israel and
Armenia have a common adversary - Turkey.
In this sense, the relationship between the two states could
theoretically reach a new perspective level. In particular, the
powerful Jewish lobby in the United States could theoretically back
the Armenian resolutions on genocide and thus undermine the Turkish
positions in the international political arena.
The Central Jewish Resource www.sem40.ru says: "Turkey may forever
lose the support of the powerful Israeli lobby in the United States and
its efforts to block the adoption of an Armenian Genocide resolution."
In an article in The Washington Times under the headline "American
Jewish community ends support of Turkish interests on [Capitol] Hill"
Eli Lake wrote that it was impossible to expect a different result
of the strong reaction from Ankara to Israeli actions against this
spring's "Freedom Flotilla".
He reminds that in 2008, leading Jewish organizations decided no
longer to block the adoption of the Armenian Genocide resolution in
Congress, which, in the opinion of the journalist, was a response to
the worsening Israeli-Turkish relations.
Meanwhile, still in 2002, Israel's Ambassador to Armenia Rivka
Cohen stated in Yerevan that "nothing, including the tragedy of the
Armenians, could be compared with the Holocaust." In that connection,
Armenia's Foreign Ministry even sent a note of protest to the Israeli
Foreign Ministry and said that Armenia considered any attempt to deny
or diminish the fact of the Armenian Genocide, for whatever motivation
it was made, to be unacceptable.
The statement of Israel's official representative then elicited a
wide response among Armenians. Harout Sassounian, the publisher of
The California Courier, wrote then that "the denial of the Armenian
Genocide by the Israeli ambassador was done within the position of
his government. One thing is clear: Israel's leaders are ready to
sacrifice historical truth for the sake of their strategic relations
with Turkey."
However, the situation today is different. This is due to the sharp
complication of the Turkish-Israeli relations.
October 30, in connection with the new appointment of the Israeli
ambassador to Armenia, the Central Jewish Resource wrote that "for
more than two decades before the eyes of the whole world, Turkey
and Azerbaijan continue to maintain the blockade of the Republic
of Armenia."
The same web portal reminds that "the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA) distributed a memo for the U.S. Congress, which accuses
Turkey of applying double standards. ANCA stresses that Turkey is the
last country that has the right to sermonize to other countries. The
memo lists all acts of violence and aggression committed by Turkish
leaders both at home and abroad for a hundred years."
Another Israeli portal IzRus notes: "Perhaps for the first time an
Israeli ambassador to a former Soviet country, who usually combines
diplomatic activities in several states, is proposed to focus on
Armenia."
Meirom is a career diplomat with more than 30 years of experience. He
is the former head of the Israeli Foreign Ministry department for
CIS countries, and in recent years was Israel's ambassador to Croatia.
In handing his credentials to the Armenian president the diplomat
said that "cooperation between Armenia and Israel can contribute to
peace and prosperity in the region" and for the first time assured the
Armenian leadership that "Israel wants to raise bilateral relations
to an excellent.
From: A. Papazian
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow
01.11.10 | 13:56
Analysis
Meirom (left) told Sargsyan Israel wants to raise bilateral relations
with Armenia to an excellent level.
Israel's new Ambassador to Armenia Shmuel Meirom submitted his
credential to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan last week. The
submission of credentials, as a rule, is seen as a usual protocol
event, but in this case, it was a bit more.
The political accents of the appointment of a new Israeli ambassador
to Armenia fit well into the context of fundamentally new regional
realities, namely, sharp complications in Turkish-Israeli relations.
At present, the situation in the region is such that Israel and
Armenia have a common adversary - Turkey.
In this sense, the relationship between the two states could
theoretically reach a new perspective level. In particular, the
powerful Jewish lobby in the United States could theoretically back
the Armenian resolutions on genocide and thus undermine the Turkish
positions in the international political arena.
The Central Jewish Resource www.sem40.ru says: "Turkey may forever
lose the support of the powerful Israeli lobby in the United States and
its efforts to block the adoption of an Armenian Genocide resolution."
In an article in The Washington Times under the headline "American
Jewish community ends support of Turkish interests on [Capitol] Hill"
Eli Lake wrote that it was impossible to expect a different result
of the strong reaction from Ankara to Israeli actions against this
spring's "Freedom Flotilla".
He reminds that in 2008, leading Jewish organizations decided no
longer to block the adoption of the Armenian Genocide resolution in
Congress, which, in the opinion of the journalist, was a response to
the worsening Israeli-Turkish relations.
Meanwhile, still in 2002, Israel's Ambassador to Armenia Rivka
Cohen stated in Yerevan that "nothing, including the tragedy of the
Armenians, could be compared with the Holocaust." In that connection,
Armenia's Foreign Ministry even sent a note of protest to the Israeli
Foreign Ministry and said that Armenia considered any attempt to deny
or diminish the fact of the Armenian Genocide, for whatever motivation
it was made, to be unacceptable.
The statement of Israel's official representative then elicited a
wide response among Armenians. Harout Sassounian, the publisher of
The California Courier, wrote then that "the denial of the Armenian
Genocide by the Israeli ambassador was done within the position of
his government. One thing is clear: Israel's leaders are ready to
sacrifice historical truth for the sake of their strategic relations
with Turkey."
However, the situation today is different. This is due to the sharp
complication of the Turkish-Israeli relations.
October 30, in connection with the new appointment of the Israeli
ambassador to Armenia, the Central Jewish Resource wrote that "for
more than two decades before the eyes of the whole world, Turkey
and Azerbaijan continue to maintain the blockade of the Republic
of Armenia."
The same web portal reminds that "the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA) distributed a memo for the U.S. Congress, which accuses
Turkey of applying double standards. ANCA stresses that Turkey is the
last country that has the right to sermonize to other countries. The
memo lists all acts of violence and aggression committed by Turkish
leaders both at home and abroad for a hundred years."
Another Israeli portal IzRus notes: "Perhaps for the first time an
Israeli ambassador to a former Soviet country, who usually combines
diplomatic activities in several states, is proposed to focus on
Armenia."
Meirom is a career diplomat with more than 30 years of experience. He
is the former head of the Israeli Foreign Ministry department for
CIS countries, and in recent years was Israel's ambassador to Croatia.
In handing his credentials to the Armenian president the diplomat
said that "cooperation between Armenia and Israel can contribute to
peace and prosperity in the region" and for the first time assured the
Armenian leadership that "Israel wants to raise bilateral relations
to an excellent.
From: A. Papazian