"Armenia is Iran's revolving door, where Israelis face growing danger" Blacklist amid Terrorism Threats

Armenia has been placed on the "blacklist" of Israel's National Security Council (NSC), which has raised the travel risk level for Israeli citizens visiting the country. The warning has been increased from level 1 to level 2, reflecting a growing threat of terrorism against Israelis and Jews in Armenia.  

It has long been known that anti-Semitic sentiments are widespread in Armenia, and now there is an additional threat of terrorism, namely planned attempts on the lives of Israelis. The decision to elevate the threat level comes amid escalating regional tensions, with some experts speculating that it is linked to broader geopolitical dynamics, including the ongoing conflict in Gaza and Iran's influence in the region.

Caliber.Az spoke with Israeli political analysts and experts to better understand the rationale behind the NSC's decision and its timing. The situation underscores the increasingly volatile security environment in the region and the potential for targeted attacks against Israeli nationals.

According to political observer of the Israeli ITON.TV channel Alexander Gur-Arie, such a decision was made by Israel, first of all, based on the fact that Armenia is an ally of Iran.

“Iran dominates the territory of Armenia, any cargo and people can pass through the Iranian-Armenian border without hindrance, it is a passing yard. Much is connected with the peculiarities of today's confrontation between Israel and Iran: on the one hand, Tehran's threats of revenge and proportional response have subsided, on the other hand, information has surfaced that Israel's strike on Iranian facilities turned out to be much more impressive than previously thought. One of Iran's nuclear facilities was very badly damaged. So Iran is looking for an excuse to retaliate against Israel wherever possible, on the territory of any country where Israeli citizens may be.

The recent murder of Israeli Rabbi Zvi Kogan in the UAE was undoubtedly initiated by Tehran's intelligence services, although the perpetrators of the crime are citizens of Uzbekistan. The dead rabbi himself had nothing to do with politics and intelligence services, he was a deeply religious man, the owner of a kosher supermarket. So this once again shows that Iran has changed its tactics - realizing that it cannot reach the major political figures and military figures of Israel, it has started a hunt for almost everyone it can find. So now the life of practically any Israeli abroad is at risk,” the political scientist believes.

He said Israeli intelligence agencies have already said they do not rule out the possibility of attempts on the lives of Israelis in other countries.

“Armenia therefore appears to be a country where such terrorist attacks are very likely to occur. Why? In addition to the fact that relations between Israel and Armenia are very cool, and Yerevan votes against Israel on all possible international platforms, i.e. our countries have practically nothing in common, anti-Semitic sentiments are very widespread in Armenia. The Jewish synagogue alone has been set on fire several times in Armenia, and the attitude towards Jews in Armenia has been repeatedly reflected in social surveys. So, I think it is quite easy to commit a terrorist act against citizens of Israel on the territory of Armenia now - the necessary ground is there.

There are more and more political differences - for example, Armenia constantly reproaches Israel for supplying weapons to Azerbaijan during the 44-day war. And recently, at a forum where I was participating, I again heard statements by representatives of the Armenian side saying that “according to all international standards of law” Israel should have stopped supplying weapons during the 44-day war. I was very surprised and asked, what are these international standards and where can I familiarize myself with them? One would think that none of its allies supplied arms to Armenia during the same war - we know that it happened.

The relations between Azerbaijan and Israel have the character of strategic partnership, Baku, despite any wars and conflicts in the Middle East, invariably fulfills its obligations to supply energy carriers to Israel, is always ready to provide any assistance - it is quite clear that the priority of relations with Baku for Israel is many times higher than with Yerevan,” Gur-Arie noted.

The related statement then came from Israeli officer and military analyst Yigal Levin, who noted that Israel has government monitoring commissions that track the growth of anti-Semitism around the world. And they could have recommended to the Israeli government to go for such measures with some information they received.

“This information does not necessarily have to come from the media field, here I quite admit that there is some specific intelligence that allows us to draw conclusions that some radical groups are preparing assassination attempts on Israelis in Armenia,” said Levin.