Tweet
AL-MONITOR: WHY IS ISRAEL STILL SILENT ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE?
21:02, 23 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan
By Arad Nir
Al-Monitor
For years, close ties between Israel and Turkey were understood to be
the reason Jerusalem has avoided the repeated requests of Armenians
for the international community to recognize the genocide their
community suffered at the hands of the Ottoman Turks during World
War I. Not only has Israel refused to recognize that the massacre was
premeditated and planned by the Ottoman government in Istanbul, it has
also exerted its influence in Washington to prevent the United States
from recognizing the genocide. This alone was a good enough reason
for the various Turkish governments to maintain close ties with Israel.
Ankara believed that Israel had almost mystical powers of influence
over the White House and Capitol Hill.
Diplomatic relations between Israel and Turkey have been foundering
for over half a decade. During most of that time, there has been no
Turkish ambassador to Israel, while the Israeli ambassador to Turkey
was expelled from Ankara in disgrace. Pro-Israel lobbyists no longer
meet with the Turkish ambassador in Washington, and the Israel Defense
Forces have found apt and even successful alternatives to cooperation
with the Turkish military, at least as far as Israel is concerned.
This year, Armenians are marking the centennial of the genocide. Given
the deterioration of its relationship with Turkey, this occasion
would seem to provide Israel with a golden opportunity to respond to
the moral claim that it recognize the Armenian genocide, just as Pope
Francis recently did, followed by the European Parliament. In fact,
dozens of prominent Israeli artists and academics recently signed a
petition calling on the Israeli government and Knesset to recognize
the Armenian genocide.
Nevertheless, officially, Israel continues to squirm. The Foreign
Ministry recommends showing greater empathy to the Armenian issue,
and this will be the first year that Israel will send an official
delegation to participate in the memorial ceremony to take place in
Yerevan. It will, however, be a low-ranking delegation, made up of
Knesset members. Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon presented
Israel's official position to Al-Monitor, saying: "Israel's position
has not changed. We are sensitive and attentive to the terrible tragedy
of the Armenian people during the First World War, and express our
empathy and solidarity. Most of the international community's efforts
must be focused on preventing humanitarian tragedies in the future."
A few senior Israeli officials dealing with the issue spoke to
Al-Monitor about it on condition of anonymity. They emphasized that
this doesn't just involve susceptibility toward Turkish sensitivities,
but also sensitivity that Israel wants to show toward Azerbaijan, which
is a neighbor of both Turkey and Armenia. Since the Soviet Union's
collapse, the borders in the Caucasus region have been redefined. One
consequence is a continuing state of war between Azerbaijan and
Armenia. One of the pillars of Azerbaijan's new national narrative
is the "Khojaly massacre," which refers to a battle in the village of
Khojaly, located in the disputed Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh,
on Feb. 26, 1992. According to the Azeri narrative, Armenian forces
killed 600 Azeri civilians there, including 169 women and children.
In this instance, the Armenians deny responsibility for the massacre
of civilians, just as they do for a long list of atrocities that
the Azeris have blamed on them since WWI. Given this relationship,
it's no wonder that the Azeris describe Armenian claims of genocide
as fabricated. Last week's decision by the European Parliament to
use the term "Armenian genocide" was described by a spokesman for
the Azeri Foreign Ministry as "an attempt to falsify the history
[and] its interpretation for political purposes" stemming from the
parliament's succumbing to Armenian pressure.
Gallia Lindenstrauss of Israel's Institute for National Security
Studies says that Azerbaijan is the Muslim country with which Israel
currently has the closest ties. Trade between Israel and Azerbaijan is
estimated at over $5 billion. Israel imports some 40% of its oil from
there, and exports mainly weapons and sophisticated defense systems
to it. In 2012, when talk of an Israel strike against Iran was at its
peak, Foreign Policy quoted a senior US official as saying (apparently
with considerable hyperbole), "The Israelis have bought an airfield ...
and the airfield is called Azerbaijan."
About six months ago, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon paid his first
public visit to Azerbaijan. Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman has
visited Baku, the capital, on several occasions. While there, both
of them heard from their hosts that Azerbaijan, like the Israeli
government, considers Iran's nuclear capacity to be an existential
threat.
Azerbaijan's border with Iran stretches for 611 kilometers (380 miles),
making it longer even than Turkey's border with Iran, which is 499
kilometers (310 miles) long. Meanwhile, Armenia's border with Iran
stretches for just 35 kilometers (22 miles). If the length of their
borders can be used to determine the importance of relations with
those countries, then Armenia is the least important of all of them.
And in general, it is considered an ally of the country that Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compares to Hitler's Germany.
Coming back to the official position presented by the Israeli Foreign
Ministry spokesman, it would seem that the call to the international
community "to prevent humanitarian tragedies in the future" might
not refer only to the incidents of mass murder committed daily by
the Islamic State against anyone who is not one of them -- Yazidis,
Christians or Alawites. It is mainly directed against Iran's "explicit
intent of obliterating the Jewish state," as Netanyahu reiterated
April 16 at Yad Vashem during a memorial service for the victims
of the Holocaust. Herein lies the real reason for Israel's policy
concerning whether it will recognize the Armenia genocide. The reason
isn't Turkey; it's Iran.
Arad Nir Is the head of the foreign news desk and international
commentator for Channel 2 News, the largest news provider in Israel.
Arad has covered international politics and diplomacy, ethnic
conflicts around the world and interviewed various world leaders,
decision-makers and opinion leaders. He teaches TV journalism at the
IDC Herzliya and Netanya Academic College.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/04/israel-armenian-genocide-ajerbaijan-world-war-i-delegation.html?utm_source=Al-Monitor+Newsletter+%5BEnglish%5D&utm_campaign=fa21 7c60ef-April_23_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_28264b27 a0-fa217c60ef-102341793
http://www.armradio.am/en/2015/04/23/why-is-israel-still-silent-on-armenian-genocide-read-more-httpwww-al-monitor-compulseoriginals201504israel-armenian-genocide-ajerbaijan-world-war-i-delegation-htmlixzz3y9yaul6c/
21:02, 23 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan
By Arad Nir
Al-Monitor
For years, close ties between Israel and Turkey were understood to be
the reason Jerusalem has avoided the repeated requests of Armenians
for the international community to recognize the genocide their
community suffered at the hands of the Ottoman Turks during World
War I. Not only has Israel refused to recognize that the massacre was
premeditated and planned by the Ottoman government in Istanbul, it has
also exerted its influence in Washington to prevent the United States
from recognizing the genocide. This alone was a good enough reason
for the various Turkish governments to maintain close ties with Israel.
Ankara believed that Israel had almost mystical powers of influence
over the White House and Capitol Hill.
Diplomatic relations between Israel and Turkey have been foundering
for over half a decade. During most of that time, there has been no
Turkish ambassador to Israel, while the Israeli ambassador to Turkey
was expelled from Ankara in disgrace. Pro-Israel lobbyists no longer
meet with the Turkish ambassador in Washington, and the Israel Defense
Forces have found apt and even successful alternatives to cooperation
with the Turkish military, at least as far as Israel is concerned.
This year, Armenians are marking the centennial of the genocide. Given
the deterioration of its relationship with Turkey, this occasion
would seem to provide Israel with a golden opportunity to respond to
the moral claim that it recognize the Armenian genocide, just as Pope
Francis recently did, followed by the European Parliament. In fact,
dozens of prominent Israeli artists and academics recently signed a
petition calling on the Israeli government and Knesset to recognize
the Armenian genocide.
Nevertheless, officially, Israel continues to squirm. The Foreign
Ministry recommends showing greater empathy to the Armenian issue,
and this will be the first year that Israel will send an official
delegation to participate in the memorial ceremony to take place in
Yerevan. It will, however, be a low-ranking delegation, made up of
Knesset members. Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon presented
Israel's official position to Al-Monitor, saying: "Israel's position
has not changed. We are sensitive and attentive to the terrible tragedy
of the Armenian people during the First World War, and express our
empathy and solidarity. Most of the international community's efforts
must be focused on preventing humanitarian tragedies in the future."
A few senior Israeli officials dealing with the issue spoke to
Al-Monitor about it on condition of anonymity. They emphasized that
this doesn't just involve susceptibility toward Turkish sensitivities,
but also sensitivity that Israel wants to show toward Azerbaijan, which
is a neighbor of both Turkey and Armenia. Since the Soviet Union's
collapse, the borders in the Caucasus region have been redefined. One
consequence is a continuing state of war between Azerbaijan and
Armenia. One of the pillars of Azerbaijan's new national narrative
is the "Khojaly massacre," which refers to a battle in the village of
Khojaly, located in the disputed Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh,
on Feb. 26, 1992. According to the Azeri narrative, Armenian forces
killed 600 Azeri civilians there, including 169 women and children.
In this instance, the Armenians deny responsibility for the massacre
of civilians, just as they do for a long list of atrocities that
the Azeris have blamed on them since WWI. Given this relationship,
it's no wonder that the Azeris describe Armenian claims of genocide
as fabricated. Last week's decision by the European Parliament to
use the term "Armenian genocide" was described by a spokesman for
the Azeri Foreign Ministry as "an attempt to falsify the history
[and] its interpretation for political purposes" stemming from the
parliament's succumbing to Armenian pressure.
Gallia Lindenstrauss of Israel's Institute for National Security
Studies says that Azerbaijan is the Muslim country with which Israel
currently has the closest ties. Trade between Israel and Azerbaijan is
estimated at over $5 billion. Israel imports some 40% of its oil from
there, and exports mainly weapons and sophisticated defense systems
to it. In 2012, when talk of an Israel strike against Iran was at its
peak, Foreign Policy quoted a senior US official as saying (apparently
with considerable hyperbole), "The Israelis have bought an airfield ...
and the airfield is called Azerbaijan."
About six months ago, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon paid his first
public visit to Azerbaijan. Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman has
visited Baku, the capital, on several occasions. While there, both
of them heard from their hosts that Azerbaijan, like the Israeli
government, considers Iran's nuclear capacity to be an existential
threat.
Azerbaijan's border with Iran stretches for 611 kilometers (380 miles),
making it longer even than Turkey's border with Iran, which is 499
kilometers (310 miles) long. Meanwhile, Armenia's border with Iran
stretches for just 35 kilometers (22 miles). If the length of their
borders can be used to determine the importance of relations with
those countries, then Armenia is the least important of all of them.
And in general, it is considered an ally of the country that Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compares to Hitler's Germany.
Coming back to the official position presented by the Israeli Foreign
Ministry spokesman, it would seem that the call to the international
community "to prevent humanitarian tragedies in the future" might
not refer only to the incidents of mass murder committed daily by
the Islamic State against anyone who is not one of them -- Yazidis,
Christians or Alawites. It is mainly directed against Iran's "explicit
intent of obliterating the Jewish state," as Netanyahu reiterated
April 16 at Yad Vashem during a memorial service for the victims
of the Holocaust. Herein lies the real reason for Israel's policy
concerning whether it will recognize the Armenia genocide. The reason
isn't Turkey; it's Iran.
Arad Nir Is the head of the foreign news desk and international
commentator for Channel 2 News, the largest news provider in Israel.
Arad has covered international politics and diplomacy, ethnic
conflicts around the world and interviewed various world leaders,
decision-makers and opinion leaders. He teaches TV journalism at the
IDC Herzliya and Netanya Academic College.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/04/israel-armenian-genocide-ajerbaijan-world-war-i-delegation.html?utm_source=Al-Monitor+Newsletter+%5BEnglish%5D&utm_campaign=fa21 7c60ef-April_23_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_28264b27 a0-fa217c60ef-102341793
http://www.armradio.am/en/2015/04/23/why-is-israel-still-silent-on-armenian-genocide-read-more-httpwww-al-monitor-compulseoriginals201504israel-armenian-genocide-ajerbaijan-world-war-i-delegation-htmlixzz3y9yaul6c/