Armenian envoy to Israel says absence of Israeli embassy in Armenia sends very wrong message

For decades, Armenia and Israel have had every reason to be close—yet were blocked by geopolitics. That may now be changing, in some under-the-radar drama on the world stage, The Times of Israel writes.

Israel’s strategic alignment with Azerbaijan—Armenia’s rival—long overshadowed everything else. Azerbaijan supplies Israel with oil and access to Iran’s northern flank, and in return has been a major buyer of Israeli drones and precision weapons. Those systems proved decisive in Baku’s victory in the 2020 war over Nagorno-Karabakh, and in the 2023 campaign that emptied the enclave of its 120,000 ethnic Armenian residents.

In August, the United States—under President Donald Trump—persuaded Armenia and Azerbaijan to sign a peace agreement in Washington. The deal has dramatically reduced fears of renewed war in the South Caucasus.

For the first time in years, the possibility exists that Israel and Armenia might finally pursue the relationship that geography and history once seemed to promise.

Yet despite this momentum, there’s also frustration. Some Israelis argue Armenia is rife with antisemitism—a claim Armenian officials and Jewish residents say is greatly exaggerated, especially compared with the sharp rise in violent antisemitism across Europe since Oct. 7. And Israel, despite five years of an Armenian mission operating in Tel Aviv, has still not opened an embassy in Yerevan.

According to Armen Akopian, Armenia’s envoy in Israel, the absence of an Israeli embassy in Armenia sends a very wrong message. “It means there is no interest in our country,” he said, noting that only three former Soviet republics remain without Israeli embassies: Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

“Some people consider any criticism of Israeli politics as antisemitism,” Akopian said.

Daily Jewish life in Armenia, meanwhile, appears largely untroubled. “In four years here we haven’t faced antisemitism—no hostility or prejudice,” said Nathaniel Trubkin, founder of Yerevan Jewish Home.