Israel's Armenian Genocide recognition dilemma, truth or political

[Yervant1]

JSTOR Daily

Oct 16, 2024

 

The Genocide Before the Shoah

For a century, Jews in Turkey have maintained a strategic silence when it comes to recognizing the Armenian genocide. Could that be changing?

                                                             Armenian refugees, 1920

 

via Wikimedia Commons

 

By: Türkay Salim Nefes

When it comes to acknowledging the Armenian genocide of 1915, Turkish Jews have navigated a delicate balance. It is impossible to understand this approach without a nuanced exploration of memory, political attitudes, and identity. With my colleagues Özgür Kaymak and Doğan Gürpınar, I have endeavored to do just that; earlier this year we published a study examining how Jews in Turkey have both engaged with historical tragedies and have also adopted the state ideology vis-à-vis the Armenians. We conducted in-depth interviews with fourteen members of the Turkish Jewish community. Our conversations illuminated the influence of the so-called Kayades mindset, which is characterized by discretion and alignment with official narratives. Indeed, it is a defining feature of Turkish Jewish identity in contrast with the so-called Avlaremoz mindset, which is characterized by engagement and solidarity with other marginalized groups. The Avlaremoz mindset challenges prevailing narratives, including official rhetoric denying historic Turkish mistreatment of Armenians. Below are key insights our research revealed.

Historical Context and Community Dynamics

The history of Jews in Turkey, much like that of the Armenians there, is marked by alternating phases of peaceful coexistence and conflict with the majority Turks. During the Ottoman Empire (1299–1922), both communities were classified as “protected minorities,” or dhimmis, as they came to be known in the fifteenth century. As non-Muslim subjects, most Armenians, who adhered to the Armenian Apostolic Church, were granted limited autonomy in exchange for paying a special tax in addition to other conditions. In the Empire, Armenians and Jews largely lived parallel lives, maintaining their own distinct communal, religious, and cultural practices. Overall, these two minority communities were not strong allies, nor were they antagonists. If their shared status fostered any sense of mutual understanding, it didn’t translate into a close-knit bond. Over centuries, Armenians and Jews in Turkey interacted mainly out of necessity, thriving independently and without nurturing any particular sense of fellowship.

The Kayades mindset, with its strategic silence and go-along-to-get-along tactics, has pervaded the Jewish community since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923.

The collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of Turkish nationalism drastically changed the circumstances of Armenians and Jews alike. At the same time, the rise of Armenian nationalism and the pursuit of an independent state intensified hostility and conflict in the Empire. In 1915, the Ottoman government initiated a systematic campaign against its Armenian residents, beginning with the arrest and execution of more than 200 intellectuals and community leaders in Istanbul. This was followed by the administration of mass deportations.

Historian Mark Levene estimates that these events led to the deaths of between 600,000 and over a million Armenians; before 1915, the population was 1.5 million. While many historians and countries recognize what the Turks visited upon the Armenians as genocide, within Turkey, that term remains deeply contested. Indeed, the state officially denies this classification, and in its denial perpetuates a complex and often painful historical debate.

Official population statistics for non-Muslim minorities in modern Turkey have not been recorded since 1965. Nonetheless, current estimates suggest that around 14,500 Jews live in the country today, a marked decline from 1914, when census data from the Ottoman regime indicates that there were some 128,000 Jews, descended predominantly from those who fled the Iberian Peninsula in 1492. By 1965, their ranks had fallen to 38,000. A similar pattern is observed among the Armenian minority, whose numbers fell sharply from 1,204,000 in 1914 to 64,000 by 1965. For Turkish Jews, the struggle for acceptance in a predominantly Muslim country has been fraught with challenges. Discriminatory policies, such as the Wealth Tax of 1942, targeted Jews alongside other non-Muslim minorities, mainly Greeks and Armenians, fostering a collective sense of vulnerability. This shared experience didn’t produce significant solidarity between these cohorts; they continued to lead parallel lives, much as they had during the Ottoman period.

Experiences in modern Turkey shaped the collective identity and political strategies of Turkish Jewry, contributing to the emergence of the aforementioned distinct mindsets: the Kayades and the Avlaremoz. The Kayades mindset, with its strategic silence and go-along-to-get-along tactics, has prevailed in the Jewish community since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. Rooted in the Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) word for “keeping quiet” or “minding one’s own business,” this approach reflects a pragmatic attempt to maintain a low profile and avoid conflict with the majority population. Adherents to this strategy emphasize their loyalty to the Turkish state, participating in official efforts to deny the Armenian genocide. Historian Eldad Ben Aharon has described the Turkish Jewish elite, who since the 1970s have lobbied against the recognition of the Armenian genocide in the United States, as informal ambassadors for Turkey. This stance may be seen as a protective reflex, born of necessity to preserve community safety and status, writes Ben Aharon; it has largely succeeded. In our research, a member of the Turkish Jewish community described this pragmatic approach as “a silent agreement: We will not interfere in state affairs, we will focus on doing well in trade and live quietly without creating trouble.”

A pivotal calamity in Jewish history, the Holocaust has come to influence profoundly how Turkish Jews perceive the Armenian genocide.

In contrast, since the late 2010s, the Avlaremoz mindset has emerged particularly among younger Turkish Jews who advocate for a more vocal and critical engagement with contemporary political and social issues. Encapsulated in the Ladino phrase meaning “we will speak,” this perspective challenges the traditional silence and addresses broader issues of minority rights. The Avlaremoz mindset promotes solidarity with other marginalized groups and calls for a reevaluation of Turkey’s official narratives, including the one which denies absolutely the Armenian genocide. One individual whom we interviewed expressed this evolving attitude as follows: “Silence is somewhat broken. This is not easy for the generation of my parents. It is against the official stance of the community. Perhaps now, it could be overcome.”

The Shadow of the Holocaust

A pivotal calamity in Jewish history, the Holocaust has come to influence profoundly how Turkish Jews perceive the Armenian genocide. Predictably, the memory of the Holocaust engenders a deep sensitivity to any discussions about it. However, this sensitivity manifests in contrasting ways. The Holocaust’s central place in Jewish identity can lead to competitive victimhood, where any acknowledgement of the suffering of one group is perceived as diminishing the recognition of and importance of another’s. This dynamic complicates the acknowledgment of any genocide other than the Holocaust, including that of Armenians. “I place the Armenian genocide in the context of a period dominated by the conflicts of nationalistic movements,” said one member of the Turkish Jewish community. “Unlike the Holocaust, it is not rooted in the Turks considering themselves racially superior; it is more political and religious in nature. Nevertheless, was there a genocide? Yes.”

An Evolving Future

In his discussion of how in-group solidarity and identity can influence the acceptance or rejection of knowledge about suffering, sociologist Joachim Savelsberg highlights that the struggle over genocide recognition is ongoing and will continue to be shaped by both global human rights norms and local political dynamics. The Turkish Jewish community’s internal debates and evolving attitudes serve as a microcosm of the broader societal shifts in Turkey, illustrating the processes through which collective memory and historical justice are negotiated and redefined. By examining these dynamics, future studies may offer further insights into the potential for historical reconciliation in Turkey.

The significance of this exploration into Turkish Jewish perspectives extends beyond the historical and sociopolitical context of Turkey. It underscores the dynamics of how minorities navigate identities, historical traumas, and political pressures. The Turkish Jewish community in particular faces the challenge of balancing historical experiences, such as the Holocaust, with the prevailing state narratives around the genocide of the Armenians. On the one hand, there is an implicit expectation to conform with the state’s conviction; on the other, Turkish Jews confront the difficult reality of Holocaust denial. This illustrates the intricate ways minority communities must navigate their own histories while engaging with national and global discourses on historical injustices.

Examining the nuanced responses of Turkish Jews demonstrates the challenges communities face in reconciling their own histories with national narratives. Understanding these dynamics can inform international efforts to promote human rights and foster intercommunal solidarity in heterogeneous societies.

https://daily.jstor.org/the-genocide-before-the-shoah/

[Yervant1]

Blaze Media
Dec 7 2024


To succeed, Trump's Middle East policy must address Israel's Armenia problem

Garen Christopher Kaloustian
December 07, 2024
 

Can the US support Israel's crusade against Muslim terror while condemning its persecution of Christians?

 

 

Now that Donald Trump has successfully mounted his political comeback and is set to become the 47th president of the United States, we can finally look forward to seeing how he’ll handle his long list of agenda items for his upcoming administration: inflation, immigration, energy, crime.

He’s got his hands full.

Both Israel and Turkey are aligned when it comes to sending money and arms to Azerbaijan for the express purpose of whittling the already-tiny Republic of Armenia down to nothing.

But for now, let’s focus on his foreign policy — particularly how he’s going to tackle the increasingly complicated situation developing in Israel and the rest of the Middle East.

 

Good guys vs. bad guys

Trump has come out firmly in support of Israel in the state’s crusade against Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and the rest of Iran’s proxy terrorist network. But the rhetoric that’s come from both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu oversimplifies the situation.

 

America and Israel are the good guys.

Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah are the bad guys.

That’s been the framing of the situation from GOP establishmentarians. Simple, yet effective.

But it’s nowhere near as simple as that, and Trump’s recent moves have actually complicated his commitment to that framing as well.

You see, the Middle East is, in reality, a smorgasbord of shifting, overlapping, crisscrossing alliances. And that’s because there is so much ethnic and religious diversity within this pocket of the world.

No Muslim monolith

Contrary to common Western perception, the Middle East is not one big, brown, Muslim monolith. The Turks are not the Sunni Arabs, who aren’t the Shiite Persians, who aren’t the Christian Armenians, who aren’t the somewhat secular, somewhat Islamic Azeris, who aren’t the Maronite Lebanese, who aren’t the Coptic Egyptians.

Each one of these groups vary drastically from one another in ethnicity, culture, and religion. And therefore, there’s no clear-cut demarcation in the Middle East when it comes to political alliances. Or at least, there’s not a simple “good guys vs. bad guys” heuristic that can be used to assess the situation.

And yet, that’s the framing American foreign policy and media sticks with: "The Middle East is full of Muslim bad guys (who are all the same), and we need to protect the lone Judeo-Christian oasis of democracy in the Middle East."

Our once and future president did something recently that slightly undermined the legitimacy of that framing.

Trump gets Armenia-pilled

In the days leading up to his election, Trump announced his commitment to aiding Christians in the Middle East who had been victims of Islamic persecution. Specifically, he was referring to the 120,000 Armenians who had been ethnically cleansed from their historic homeland of Artsakh by Azerbaijan.

He even went so far as calling the patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church, his holiness Aram I, about mobilizing an Armenian restoration of Artsakh.

From where I’m sitting, this is a clear result of Trump having surrounded himself with advisors like Robert F Kennedy Jr., Vivek Ramaswamy, and Tulsi Gabbard, all of whom have all made statements signaling their support for Armenia against its various regional antagonists.

But the simple act of signaling a commitment to aiding the Christian Armenians actually creates a flurry of complications for the Trump administration.

And it all has to do with the love triangle between the U.S., Israel, and Turkey.

Aiding Azerbaijan

As the entire world knows, Israel launched a war in Gaza after the brutal October 7 attacks by Hamas.

What much of the world doesn’t know is that at the time of the attacks, Israel was already embroiled in a different conflict, aiding (along with the U.S. State Department) in its ethnic cleansing campaign against the Armenian enclave of Artsakh.

And just one week after the October 7 attacks, a shipment of arms left Tel Aviv headed toward Baku, Azerbaijan.

And Israel has not relented. In the midst of all the bombs Israel has dropped on both Gaza and Lebanon, it (along with Turkey) continues to send state-of-the-art weaponry to Azerbaijan, most recently on September 24.

If you’ve kept up with the news, you also know that there’s been a fair bit of saber-rattling between Turkey and Israel, as Turkish President Erdogan has been raising tensions with Israel for its offensive against Hamas, recently going so far as hailing the ICC decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders as “courageous” and hosting Hamas in Turkey after the terrorist group was booted from Qatar.

It certainly seems like the Islamic Turks are egging on a war with Israel from the outside.

But how much of this is theater?

After all, Israel relies on Turkey and Azerbaijan for 40% of its oil via the BTC Pipeline (which begins in Baku and ends in Ceyhan, Turkey).

And, as I already mentioned, both Israel and Turkey are aligned when it comes to sending money and arms to Azerbaijan for the express purpose of whittling the already-tiny Republic of Armenia down to nothing.

But that still doesn’t cover the total extent of Israel’s antagonistic relationship with Armenians.

Jerusalem land-grab?

You see, the state of Israel isn’t just home to Jews and Muslims. It’s home to about 187,000 Christians, some 5,000 of whom are Armenian. In Jerusalem, the Old City has historically been divided into four quarters: the Christian quarter, Jewish quarter, Muslim quarter, and the Armenian quarter.

While this Armenian community dates back to the 4th century, it has recently found itself under siege by a shadowy Israeli corporation called Xana Capital. In dispute is the "Cow's Garden," the last large, open space in Jerusalem's Old City. In 2021, the Armenian patriarchate agreed to a secret 98-year lease of the land — which comprises 25% of the Armenian quarter, to a Jewish-Australian developer.

Calling the lease illegal, the community has been fighting to invalidate it in court. Meanwhile, the Grayzone reports that Xana Capital has employed Israeli settlers to intimidate Armenians into vacating the land.

The point I’m making is that the framing of the Israel-Palestine conflict since the 10/7 attacks has been that Israel has been in a fight for its survival against the bloodthirsty Muslims and therefore needs as much aid and support from the U.S. as it can muster.

But there's one glaring flaw in that narrative: Israel’s direct involvement in the downfall of the Armenian state and diaspora.

To recap:

Israel has been sending arms to Azerbaijan, before, during, and after October 7.

Israel is currently confiscating the historic Armenian quarter of Jerusalem.

All of this is happening in the midst of its crusade against Hamas and Hezbollah.

My question is: When is the United States going to prioritize Christians in the Middle East priority over the other two Abrahamic faiths? We’re a Christian country, right?

Help wanted

This is why Trump’s pre-election commitments to Christians in the Middle East is a complicated matter. It’s not as simple as “Muslims bad, Israel good.”

As I mentioned, Trump seems to be stacking his cabinet with pro-Armenia advocates (RFK Jr., Vivek, Tulsi, even Marco Rubio). But he’s also got plenty of pro-Israel people (Elise Stefanik, Kristi Noem, Lee Zeldin, Mike Huckabee, Susie Wiles, Pete Hegseth, and, yes, even Marco Rubio) in the mix. Not to mention the pro-Turkey Dr. Oz as head of Medicare and Medicaid.

So for now, it looks like it’ll be a bumpy ride.

In a post-election interview with Tucker Carlson, RFK, Jr. recounted the time he witnessed Trump draw from memory an accurate map of the Middle East, including troop strength of each country. It’s apparent from this one exchange that Trump has a sharp understanding of the geopolitical and strategic military dynamics of the Middle East.

This means he also knows that stability in the region can never be taken for granted. I would urge him to look at the movements happening between Israel, Turkey, and Azerbaijan and take stock of the Pan-Turanic vision being cooked up by these parties.

If he’s serious about helping the Christians of the Middle East, there’s no getting around it.

https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/to-succeed-trump-s-middle-east-policy-must-address-israel-s-armenia-problem

[Yervant1]

1945

Dec 23 2024

 

Israel Betrayed Armenians. Will It Betray Syrian Kurds Now Too?

 

by Michael Rubin

 

 

September 27, 2020 began as a quiet Sunday morning in Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Armenian-populated region that, at first glance, looks like Switzerland: Green field, rolling farms, and snow-capped mountains with churches and monasteries dotting mountainsides. It was just days after the 100th anniversary of the Ottoman invasion of independent Armenia at the tail end of the Armenian Genocide, but that anniversary had passed with minimal bluster from the Turks and the Azerbaijanis.

Then the explosion began, Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians described to me when I visited weeks later. Utilizing Israeli drones and munitions, Azerbaijan launched a surprise attack on the self-governing Armenian enclave, the first of many times over the next three years in which Azerbaijan broke ceasefires until it completed Nagorno-Kabarakh’s ethnic cleansing.

Anger toward Israel remains deep among the Nagorno-Karabakh refugees, Armenia proper, and the broader Armenian community.

Frankly, they are right. Israel is one of the dwindling number of Western countries that does not recognize the Armenian Genocide. That anger has persisted as Azerbaijan has systematically began dismantling Armenian churches and sandblasting inscriptions on monasteries, some over a millennium old. It was a short-term and self-defeating strategy on Israel’s part, as Israel’s backing of Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians and destruction of cultural heritage created a precedent that could be used against Jews living in the West Bank, especially among Palestinians who deny any Jewish connection to the land. 

 

Israelis—commentator Mordechai Kedar, for example—may argue that Azerbaijan is a haven for Jews, but this is increasingly false. The arguments Kedar relies upon outdated numbers and repeats the same tactics Iranian partisans used to argue that the Islamic Republic was simply anti-Israel, not antisemitic. The reality is that Azerbaijan has hemorrhaged its Jews for a reason. When population statistics remain unchanged for decades on end, it is a sign those statistics are outdated if not false.

Nor do Israel’s realist arguments to justify the Israel arms-for-Azerbaijani hold water. Azerbaijan may once have been a crucial source of energy for Israel, but the Abraham Accords opened new channels absent the moral baggage inherent in helping a racist dictator eliminate a minority community. Privately, all but those wanting something Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev acknowledges how repressive and unhinged Aliyev has become; Aliyev himself does not try to hide his agenda. Nor does Israel show itself cognizant of Azerbaijan’s true role when Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan openly plans violence against Israel and bolsters Turkey’s own domestic military industry but uses Azerbaijan to continue trade with the Jewish state. Israel needs to remove its strategic blinders: Every Israeli delivery to Baku provides technology Ankara can use against Jerusalem.

Israel’s complicitly in Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic cleansing represents a stain not easily removed, but it can also provide a lesson not to repeat: Short term deals with Israel’s ideological adversaries do not bring peace; instead, they embolden enemies. Turkey may present one face to tourists in Istanbul, Bodrum, or Antalya, but ideologically, it works to eradicate Middle Eastern minorities, be they Armenian or Chaldean Christians, Syrian Kurds, Yezidi, Alawi or Jews. 

Syrian Kurds now face existential peril as the Turkish army bares down. Turkey’s accusation that the Kurds represent a terror threat is nonsense; rather, Turkey objects to the Kurds’ liberalism, their self-governance, and their rejection of Erdogan Muslim Brotherhood-inspired Islam, an interpretation of Islam historically foreign to the region.

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2024/12/israel-betrayed-armenians-will-it-betray-syrian-kurds-now-too/

[Yervant1]

Jerusalem Post
Dec 29 2024


Israel’s alliance with Azerbaijan is a Faustian bargain we should reconsider - opinion

Over 120,000 Armenians were forcibly displaced from their ancestral lands in just a matter of days, with reports of civilians being harassed, starved, and intimidated into leaving.

By NADAV TAMIR

In a “Why Jews need Azerbaijan” (The Jerusalem Post, December 16 -  Jews need countries like Azerbaijan who will support Israel - The Jerusalem Post ), Dr. Mordechai Kedar extolled Azerbaijan as a beacon of friendship to Israel and a model of tolerance in a hostile region. As a former diplomat I never dismiss considerations of Realpolitik, and I recognize that the strategic alliance between Israel and Azerbaijan undoubtedly serves certain geopolitical and economic interests – notably oil and the proximity to Iran. However, the paean to Azerbaijan as a paragon of virtue demands a closer examination. The reality is far from Kedar’s glowing depiction.

Under the iron rule of President Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan stands as one of the most despotic regimes in the world. Freedom House, a respected watchdog organization, gives Azerbaijan an abysmal score of 9 out of 100 in its Freedom in the World rankings, placing it firmly in the “not free” category. Elections in Azerbaijan are farcical, with Aliyev routinely securing more than 80% of the vote in contests that lack even a veneer of legitimacy. Dissent is crushed with brutal efficiency. Journalists, opposition figures, and activists are routinely imprisoned, and the state’s control over media and civil society is near-total.

Kedar’s article sidesteps Azerbaijan’s recent actions in Nagorno-Karabakh, where it executed one of the largest instances of ethnic cleansing in recent history.

Over 120,000 Armenians were forcibly displaced from their ancestral lands in just a matter of days, with reports of civilians being harassed, starved, and intimidated into leaving. This mass exodus did not occur in a vacuum; it was the culmination of a systematic campaign to erase the Armenian presence in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region they have inhabited for millennia.

Even after the expulsion, Azerbaijan’s assault on Armenian cultural heritage continues unabated. Reports from organizations such as Human Rights Watch and UNESCO detail the destruction of Armenian churches, monasteries, and cemeteries – a brazen attempt to rewrite history and sever the connection between the land and its original inhabitants. These actions constitute cultural genocide and are part of Aliyev’s broader policy of denying Armenia’s historical and cultural legacy in the region. Indeed, the regime is now coveting land in Armenia proper, and could well soon restart war.


The alliance between Israel and Azerbaijan is often justified on the grounds that Azerbaijan supplies Israel with a significant portion of its oil needs and provides a strategic foothold near Iran. In return, Israel sells advanced weaponry to Azerbaijan, including drones and missiles that have been brutally and lethally deployed against Armenia. But let us not delude ourselves: This is a Faustian bargain. Israel’s military support has made it complicit in a tyrannical rule and a humanitarian disaster in Nagorno-Karabakh.

This is not the first time Israel has allied itself with unsavory regimes for perceived strategic gain. From apartheid South Africa to various Latin American dictatorships, Israel has a history of engaging in morally questionable partnerships. These alliances have often been rationalized as necessary for survival in a hostile world. Yet history shows that such bargains come with long-term costs to Israel’s moral standing and international reputation.


Kedar’s emphasis on Azerbaijan’s tolerance toward its Jewish community, while noteworthy, does not absolve the regime.

Tolerance for one minority doesn't excuse strategic oppression of others

Yes, Azerbaijan has a small and relatively well-treated Jewish population, and its relations with Israel are warm. But tactical tolerance for one minority does not excuse the strategic oppression of others. To hail Azerbaijan as a model of coexistence while ignoring its persecution of Armenians and its suppression of domestic dissent is to engage in dangerous whitewashing.

Moreover, Kedar’s argument ignores the growing backlash against Azerbaijan’s actions from the international community. The European Parliament has condemned Azerbaijan for its actions in Nagorno-Karabakh, and US lawmakers have called for sanctions against the Aliyev regime. By aligning itself so closely with Azerbaijan, Israel risks alienating key allies and undermining its own credibility as a democracy that upholds human rights.


Kedar reflects a troubling tendency among some in Israel to prioritize expedience over principle. This approach not only undermines Israel’s moral standing but also weakens its position in advocating for democratic values and human rights worldwide. If Israel wishes to be taken seriously as a moral actor on the global stage, it must hold itself to high standards and demand accountability from its partners.

Silence in the face of injustice is complicity, and Israel cannot afford to be complicit in the crimes of ethnic cleansing. As a nation that has endured persecution and fought for its own survival, Israel has a special responsibility to stand against oppression wherever it occurs – even when it’s inconvenient. We can do better.

The writer has served as an Israeli diplomat in Washington and Boston and as a political adviser to the president of Israel.


https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-835186

[Yervant1]

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Israel Shouldn’t Fall for the Azeri Trojan Horse

https://wallstreetjournal-ny.newsmemory.com/?publink=35046e8de_134f8f8 

Israel Shouldn’t Fall for the Azeri Trojan Horse

In their March 15 op-ed “Azerbaijan Is Israel’s New Friend in the Muslim World,” 
Seth Cropsey and Joseph Epstein argue that the U.S. and Israel should include 
Azerbaijan in the Abraham Accords. Their goal to counter Iran is noble but their 
prescription is naïve.
There are two Azerbaijans: a fictional one that Baku shows visitors and a real 
one it hides. Take its relations with Iran. Azerbaijan’s lobbyists say the two 
countries are adversaries, but behind the scenes they’re partners. In 2021 Baku 
signed a gas swap deal with Tehran, helping to relieve Iranian authorities from 
Washington’s “maximum pressure.” Armenia trades with Iran as a matter of 
necessity due to a blockade imposed by Azerbaijan and Turkey. Azerbaijan’s trade 
with Iran is nearly as high but a matter of choice.

What about Azerbaijan’s outreach toward Israel? Here President Ilham Aliyev 
takes a page from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s playbook: Play 
Israel’s supporters for fools. Mr. Aliyev’s father, Heydar Aliyev, declared 
Azerbaijan and Turkey to be “one nation, two states.” Turkey’s military 
industries likely reverse engineer every weapons system Israel sells to 
Azerbaijan. The danger now is that Mr. Aliyev will replicate the other part of 
Turkey’s playbook: Attempt to isolate Israel among NATO allies. Should 
Azerbaijan have the same power within the Abraham Accords? As Turkey exposes 
Israeli intelligence, so might Azerbaijan when the price is right.

Israel’s embrace of Azerbaijan as the latter expelled Nagorno-Karabakh’s 
Christians in recent years was shameful and self-defeating. How can Jerusalem 
demand defensible borders or the preservation of Jewish heritage in the West 
Bank when it opposes Armenia’s parallel claims?

If religious freedom is the canary in the coal mine, Azerbaijan is a problem. 
Both Iran and Turkey boast that their large Jewish populations prove their 
countries’ tolerance. They turn Jews into museum exhibits and give visitors 
decades-old figures. Ditto Azerbaijan. Azeri officials tell visitors that 
Azerbaijan is home to 30,000 Jews but, under the Aliyevs, the country’s Jewish 
population has dropped precipitously. Freedom House ranks Azerbaijan less free 
than China and Cuba. While Azerbaijanis can’t vote at the ballot box, they vote 
with their feet. Regionally, only Armenia’s Jewish population is growing.

The Abraham Accords must expand— but keep out the Trojan horse.

MICHAEL RUBIN

American Enterprise Institute Washington

[MosJan]

“Israel’s Fighting YOUR War” - Netanyahu ADMITS Genocide, Slams AIPAC Critics & Trump Owning Gaza

 

[MosJan]

[MosJan]

BREAKING: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Recognizes the Armenian, Assyrian & Greek Genocides on Patrick Bet-David’s Valuetainment Podcast

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has officially recognized the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek genocides after Patrick Bet-David directly asked Netanyahu why Israel has not officially recognized these genocides carried out by the Ottoman Empire, on his Valuetainment podcast.

Netanyahu responded by saying that Israel, through the Knesset, had already recognized them — which is factually incorrect, as no such resolution has ever been passed — and then he personally affirmed recognition himself.

The full back-and-forth between Patrick Bet-David and Prime Minister Netanyahu runs as follows:

Patrick Bet-David: “You know the Holocaust has been recognized by 193 different countries, right? Everybody around the world and in some countries if you deny it you could do jail time many countries. You can do jail time a year or 5 years, but for anybody that doesn’t recognize Armenian, Assyrian Genocide if there’s any country that I would have expected to be on the list that recognized the Armenian and Assyrian and the Greek genocide. It would be Israel. Why haven’t you yet recognized the Armenian, Assyrian, and the Greek Genocide that the Turkish did to the to that community?”

Benjamin Netanyahu: “In fact, I think we have because I think the Knesset passed a resolution to that effect.”

Patrick Bet-David: “I don’t know if I want you though. I don’t know if it’s come from the Prime Minister of Israel.”

Benjamin Netanyahu: “Yeah, I just did.”

Patrick Bet-David: “Okay.”

Benjamin Netanyahu: “Period.”

Patrick Bet-David: “All right. Well, thank you for doing that. Thank you for doing that.”

Benjamin Netanyahu: “Thank you for asking.”

Patrick Bet-David: “I appreciate you. That’s important to me, and I’m sure a lot of Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks around the world appreciate you saying that.”

While Netanyahu’s on-camera words are significant, it is important to clarify the official stance of the State of Israel:

* Israel has not formally recognized the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek genocides. Successive governments, including Netanyahu’s, have historically blocked Knesset resolutions on this issue. Reports from Ynet News and The Times of Israel note that Netanyahu himself instructed ministers to pull recognition bills from the legislative agenda in past years to avoid diplomatic fallout with Turkey and Azerbaijan.

* Officials’ statements are not formal recognition. Israeli officials, including former Foreign Minister Israel Katz, have occasionally referred to the Armenian Genocide. However, such statements do not constitute formal state recognition. Only a resolution passed by the Knesset would amount to an official acknowledgment.

* Local commemorations don’t equal state recognition. Some Israeli municipalities, such as Jerusalem, Petah Tikva, and Haifa, have named public spaces in memory of Armenian Genocide victims. While these gestures are meaningful, they are not official acts of state recognition.

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statement on Patrick Bet-David’s podcast marks the first time he has personally declared recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek genocides on record. However, as of August 2025, Israel as a state still has not passed a formal Knesset resolution recognizing them.

[MosJan]

“Yeah, I just did.”  ???

[MosJan]

Turkey’s Erdogan FURIOUS With Netanyahu For Recognizing Armenian Genocide

 

 

 

[MosJan]

 

[MosJan]

 

[MosJan]