Both Armenia and Israel travelled a long and hard path to independence

PanARMENIAN.Net - 93 ago, after the brilliant victory at Sardarapat, when moderate Armenian armed forces fought against the massive Turkish army and achieved a triumph, the First Armenian Republic was established. And it was not our fault that it survived for only 2 years – the power was on the side of the Bolsheviks and Turkey, which in the advent of Bolsheviks saw an excellent partner for the destruction of Armenians. However, complete destruction proved unsuccessful – the Second Republic was founded, followed by the Third. And all this time Armenia has been engaged in fighting – if not always with arms, at least with words.

Almost the same happened to the State of Israel. Founded in 1947, it was almost immediately attacked by the Arab states. In the history of Israel there have been seven or eight major wars, not to mention the small skirmishes and terrorist attacks that occur almost every week. But the Six-Day War was quite “different” from others. It broke out on June 5, 1967, and by definition of Winston Spencer Churchill and Randolph Spencer Churchill, was one of the most instant and dramatic military victories of all time. “In less than 4 days the Israelis destroyed the Egyptian army of 100.000. Thousands of cars and 700 tanks of Soviet production, including the most modern, were captured or destroyed. Qualitative superiority of the human force, especially that of the officers, firm consciousness of the Israelis that they are fighting for the very existence of their country and the lives of their wives and children, their relentless determination, flexibility and rapidity in decision making, manoeuvrability coupled with excellent training were the crucial factors that ensured Israel’s victory,” they write in “The Six Day War”.

Enclosed by Islamic states that dictate the rules in the global oil market, Armenia and Israel found it pretty hard to offer the world something more attractive. In fact, Jerusalem handled the job with dignity and now produces weapons, develops high technology and has become at least required – if not indispensable – in this industry. As for Armenia, unfortunately, she still faces difficulties in entering the world market, still relying on traditional exports – cognac, wine, textiles in limited quantities. All this, of course, is not enough...

But the most important point is that both Armenia and Israel have an army capable of defending their homeland against any enemy, and it is no exaggeration. Such kind of states focus on high quality instead of quantity and it’s no wonder that international experts and analysts rightly consider both of the armies the most efficient and combat-ready in the Middle East and South Caucasus.

Well, and the Armenian and Jewish lobbies in the U.S. and in several other countries should not be ignored either. Despite decades of pro-Turkish stance, the Jewish lobby has recently changed its attitude towards Turkey. Turkey’s policy towards Israel, aiming at “peace” with the Arabs and regional leadership, forces the Jewish state to revise her foreign policy priorities. We cannot say that Armenian-Israeli relations will become allied in the twinkling of an eye, because there is the factor of Azerbaijan. But progress is obvious and in the course of time it may lead to a qualitatively new situation, which Baku and the Muslim world will have to put up with.