Israel condemned march of Armenian neo-Nazis

A sharp and unequivocal statement by Israel's Ambassador to Armenia and Moldova Joel Lyon, who condemned the procession of Armenian admirers of Garegin Nzhdeh on 1 January and called their leader a Nazi collaborator.

Note that earlier official Israel limited itself to mild criticism of Yerevan when the city's only synagogue was desecrated last year. This was the Armenians' response to Israel's military and technical assistance to Azerbaijan for the liberation of the occupied territories. However, the march through the streets of Yerevan by supporters of the Armenian fascist, with flags resembling Hitler's swastika and shouts of "sig heil" made official Israel mad.

In his message published in the social network X Ambassador lyon even made a demand: "Armenian authorities must clearly oppose any form of Nazism and anti-Semitism". By doing so, he put Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in a difficult situation, as the head of Armenia cannot decide on the country's foreign policy line between the collective West and Russia. The Armenian government makes curtsies in both directions, trying to "sit on two chairs". And by opposing the Armenian fascists, the government will once again show its intention of rapprochement with Russia's enemies.  Especially as since in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Russia took the side of the Arabs in the Gaza Strip.

Israel's fair reaction looks belated. It can be said that by not reacting to the numerous previous fascist manifestations in Armenia, Jerusalem condoned the Armenians. Israel was silent when a monument to Nazi Nzhdeh was erected in the centre of Yerevan in 2016. In addition to major centres like Gyumri and Gafan, the memory of Nzhdeh is preserved in, at least, seventeen other populated areas. Thus, a monument to Nzhdeh was erected in Gyumri and a street was named on which a military base of Russia, which boasts of victory over fascism and is now fighting in Ukraine under the anti-Nazi slogan, is located. In the town of Gafan there is Nzhdeh street and a memorial erected in 2003.

Streets named after Garegin Nzhdeh, Hitler's general condemned to execution by the Soviet court, are in Agarak, Aparan, Artik, Ashtarak, Burastan, Byuravan, Dvin, Goris, Mrgavan, Mrgavet, Nshavan, Sisian, Stepanavan, Vanadzor, Verin, Artashat and Yeghvard. In Armenia, an entire village is named in Nzhdeh's honour.

Why did Israel remain silent on these obvious manifestations of glorification of Hitlerism in Armenia, despite numerous publications in the Azerbaijani press, which opened the eyes of the world to Armenian fascism? The question is rhetorical, but Azerbaijan has a quite concrete answer, having once again demonstrated to Israel and the civilised world the justifiability of curbing Armenian revanchism.