"Israel is watching with concern the rise of anti-Semitism in Armenia"
Jewish pundits on Caliber.Az

INTERVIEWS  08 October 2023 - 12:45

On the night of October 3, the World Jewish Center in the capital of Armenia, Yerevan, was vandalized, which, according to most international political scientists, is directly related to Israel’s increasingly positive relations with Azerbaijan. It is precisely this reason for the current surge in Armenian enmity towards Jews that the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post points out: “The strengthening of relations between Israel and Azerbaijan prompted the Armenians to attack the Jewish centre in Yerevan.”

President of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER) Pinchas Goldschmidt said that the vandalism of the World Jewish Centre in Armenia is highly regrettable and called on Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan to condemn the act and strengthen security measures for the Jewish community. Goldschmidt expressed solidarity with the Jewish community in Armenia and expressed hope that it will be able to celebrate the holiday of Sukkot peacefully.

Meanwhile, as Israeli media report, literally on the day of the incident, the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) organization claimed responsibility for the attack on the synagogue and Jewish centre in Yerevan and published a video of the barbaric nationalist act online. Graffiti was made on the wall of the synagogue and a Molotov cocktail was thrown at it. At the same time, a statement from the ASALA organization was published on social networks: “Jews are the enemies of the Armenian people, and the Jewish state sells weapons to Azerbaijan. This is a warning: if rabbis in the US and Europe continue to provide assistance to Baku, then synagogues in other countries will burn.”

We must admit that, having experienced the manifestation of chauvinism and ultranationalism of our “ancient neighbours”, we are not at all surprised by such an act of vandalism. People in Armenia have always believed that if something doesn’t go the way they want, it’s not a sin to blame the rare representatives of other nationalities living in the “land of stones”. Blame and roughly punish...

How did Israel perceive what happened in Yerevan the other day? Jewish political scientists Roman Gurevich and Michael Borodkin answer this question for Caliber.Az.

The honorary ambassador of the Jewish Agency in Azerbaijan, journalist, political scientist Roman Gurevich said that in Israel they were shocked when they learned about the vile anti-Semitic attack on the synagogue in Yerevan, and even during the holiday of Sukkot. Moreover, recently, anti-Semitism in Armenia, in his opinion, has been increasing, which is explained primarily by the close friendly relations between Israel and Azerbaijan, their unique partnership in a number of sectors, including in the military sphere. Armenians perceive this extremely negatively and hostilely.

 “We took the information about the revival of the terrorist organization ASALA, which immediately began threatening to attack synagogues around the world, with the utmost seriousness. The Jewish people will respond very decisively to such threats, no matter who they come from, and in strict accordance with the norms of international law. It must be said that the synagogue that was desecrated in Yerevan, as far as I know, is the only one in Armenia, and the Jewish community there is extremely small and even on holidays it is difficult for a minyan to gather (in Hebrew - “count”; in Talmudic Judaism - the necessary quorum for performing public worship and conducting religious ceremonies). And here is such a sad incident in addition...

We observe with alarm the growth of anti-Semitism in Armenia; we remember that nasty acts against Jews in this country have taken place more than once, including the desecration of shrines important to Jews. However, I want to warn you that Israel has extensive experience in protecting Jewish communities in all countries of the world, moreover, it also has solid experience in punishing terrorists who committed sabotage against Jews. And now in Israel, they are watching with great concern how the ugly monster of anti-Semitism again raises its head in Armenia,” Gurevich said.

And as Israeli journalist and Iranian researcher Michael Borodkin suggests, we can distinguish two main factors that lead to the manifestation of anti-Semitism - the general and the more specific.

“By general factor, I mean a sad phenomenon that is well known to all of us: when a country experiences a severe crisis, be it economic or defeat in war, society often begins to look for those to blame among “outsiders.” And the first thing they almost always do is blame the Jews living there for the country’s troubles. This has happened in the history of many countries around the world. And Armenia, as we see, was no exception.

Another factor, more specific, I associate with the consequences of Iranian propaganda. Following Azerbaijan's victory in the Second Garabagh War, the Iranian regime launched a massive campaign to provoke a surge in anti-Semitism. True, not in Armenia, but precisely in Azerbaijan. Hence the constant statements and falsehoods that Israel almost controls the Azerbaijani government, that the “Zionists” have penetrated all ruling circles, that they are provoking wars in the South Caucasus, and so on. In Azerbaijan, their plan was a complete failure - you did not observe any surge in anti-Semitism. But Armenian Internet users, who saw and read all this, began to increasingly say that Armenia, it turns out, is at war not only with Azerbaijan but also with the “Zionists.” Apparently, everything together became the reason for the attack on the synagogue,” Borodkin added.

Caliber.Az