A bilateral relationship exists between Armenia and Israel. From 1993 to 2007, Armenia was served by the Embassy of Israel in Georgia. In 1996, Tsolak Momjian was appointed the honorary consul of Armenia in Jerusalem. Eleven years later, the residence of the Embassy of Israel in Armenia was moved to Jerusalem. In October 2010, Shmuel Meirom was appointed the Israeli ambassador to Armenia. Armen Melkonian was appointed the Armenian ambassador to Israel in 2012, with a residence in Cairo. In October of that year, Melkonian presented his credentials to Israeli president Shimon Peres. On 21 September 2019 Armenia announced that it would be opening an embassy in Israel. Despite generally cordial ties between the two, relations soured after Armenia withdrew its ambassador to Israel due to Israeli arms supply to Armenia's enemy, Azerbaijan, in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Diplomatic relations Israel and Armenia have maintained diplomatic relations since the latter's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The Armenian diplomatic mission to Israel was located in Georgia from 1993 to 2007, although Tsolak Momjian was appointed honorary consul of Armenia in Jerusalem in 1996.

There have been several high-level visits to Israel by Armenians. Former Armenian president Robert Kocharyan traveled to Israel and met with high-ranking Israeli officials, including former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, in January 2000. Both countries pledged to strengthen relations and signed agreements on health and bilateral investment.Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Eurasia - Armenia In 2003, Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II visited Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger. Metzger accepted Karekin's invitation to visit Armenia in 2005, and his trip included a visit to the Tsitsernakaberd (the Genocide Memorial in Yerevan). At the memorial, he formally recognised the Armenian genocide. In 2014 Shmuel Meirom (Israel's ambassador to Armenia, with a residence in Jerusalem) said that Israel is willing to abolish all visas with Armenia soon, beginning with holders of diplomatic passports.

Warming relations between the two deteriorated in September 2020. In response to continuous Israeli military support for Azerbaijan in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, Armenia recalled its ambassador to Israel. The president of Artsakh Republic, Arayik Harutyunyan, accused Israel of complicity in 'genocide.'

In December 2021, Armenia transferred its ambassador to Brazil, Arman Akopian, to Israel. Akopian holds a PhD in Semitic philology and speaks Hebrew and Arabic.

On June 21, 2024, the Israeli Foreign Ministry recalled Akopian for a "stern reprimand conversation" in response to Armenia's decision to acknowledge Palestinian statehood.

+High-level visits and meetings Date Location Note December 1994 Israel Armenian minister of foreign affairs Vahan Papazian visits. February 1995 Israel President Robert Kocharyan of Armenia visits. October 1998 Israel Armenian minister of foreign affairs Vardan Oskanian visits. January 2000 Jerusalem Armenian president Robert Kocharyan meets with Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, President Ezer Weizman, Speaker of the Knesset Avraham Burg, Minister of Interior Natan Sharansky, and Mayor of Jerusalem Ehud Olmert. November 2005 Yerevan Israel's chief rabbi, Yona Metzger, visits Armenia and declares that the Israeli Jewish community recognizes the Armenian genocide. August 2011 Yerevan Israeli diplomats (headed by Foreign Ministry official Pinchas Avivi) and Armenian diplomats (headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosian) meet to discuss the relationship between their countries. April 2012 Yerevan Israeli agriculture minister Orit Noked meets with Armenian prime minister Tigran Sargsyan and Agriculture Minister Sergo Karapetian. July 2013 Yerevan Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan meets with Yair Auron, an Israeli historian who specializes in genocide studies.

Economic relations and tourism Since independence, Armenia has received support from Israel and is one of its trading partners. Armenia Air operates twice weekly flights to Israel and Armenia is looking forward to a rise in tourism from Israel.

Armenians in Israel

The Armenian community has lived in the Levant for about 2,000 years. According to Yoav Loeff (lector of the Armenian language and history at Hebrew University of Jerusalem), the Armenian presence in Jerusalem dates to 301 AD thanks to the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem (which dates back to the Apostolic Age). Tigranes the Great, under whom Armenia reached its greatest extent, deported thousands of Jews to Armenia in the first century BC. Israel is home to the Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem was founded in 638 and is located in the Armenian Quarter, the smallest of the four quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem. According to a 2006 study, 790 Armenians live in the Old City. One of the earliest mentions of Armenians and Jews is in the 1723 book Travels through Europe, Asia, and into parts of Africa by French traveler Aubry de La Motraye, in which de La Motraye writes that the Armenians and Jews are "reckon'd more honest" than the Greeks in the Ottoman Empire.

About 25,000 Armenians lived in Mandatory Palestine by the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, but most fled the area in the ensuing violence. After the establishment of the state of Israel, most of the remaining Armenian community adopted Israeli citizenship and settled in the Old City's Armenian Quarter.

Israel supported Azerbaijan with weapons and ammunition during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War against Armenia in the early 1990s for geopolitical reasons; the perceived threat of the Islamic Republic of Iran was considered.R. Hrair Dekmejian & Hovann H. Simonian. Troubled Waters: The Geopolitics of the Caspian Region, 2003, p. 125 "In addition to commercial links, Israel has given strong backing to Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, which reportedly has included military assistance."Sedat Laçiner, Mehmet Özcan, İhsan Bal. USAK Yearbook of International Politics and Law 2010, Vol. 3, p. 322 "Israel was one of the strategic partners and supporters of Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh War with Armenia."Bahruz Balayev, The Right to Self-Determination in the South Caucasus: Nagorno Karabakh in Context, Lexington Books, 2013, p. 73 "Israel has supported Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia for the enclave of Nagorno Karabakh." According to the Journal of Turkish Weekly, relations between Israel and Armenia deteriorated because of the conflict; blame was also partly placed on the Jews of Azerbaijan, who circulated conspiracy theories in Armenian society.

In 2009–2011, The Jerusalem Post reported on incidents in which Haredi Yeshiva students spat at Armenian Christians. The Jerusalem district police responded, "All complaints of mutual assault are treated with the utmost severity....more than one case ended with charges being filed and the deportation of clergy involved in assault. As opposed to the situation about three years ago, the frequency of spitting has declined dramatically."

The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem (an independent, self-governing Christian patriarchate dating to the Apostolic Age) Nourhan Manougian said in 2013, "If Israel recognizes the Armenian genocide it won't be the end of the world." He further claimed that Armenians in Jerusalem were being treated as third-class citizens.

Culture

Armenian-Israelis are ethnic Armenians with Israeli citizenship. Three thousand Armenians live in Israel, including 1,000 in Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter. About one thousand Armenian-Israelis have Israeli citizenship, mainly in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. The Institute of African and Asian Studies at the Hebrew University established an Armenian-studies programme specialising in study of the Armenian language, literature, history and culture, and the Armenian genocide.

Armenian Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem

According to the Jewish Virtual Library, "the Armenian Quarter is well preserved. St. James Convent is a complex of several churches with open spaces and gardens covered with a variety of greenery. The Patriarchate building next door is an impressive structure consisting of the Patriarch's residence, gold embossed throne room and several offices. Behind its main gate, the convent contains a priest's quarters, a library building, a museum, printing press, elementary and high schools and residences, youth and social clubs and residential shelters for the poor and employees of the Patriarchate. Currently the Theological Seminary is located outside the convent across the street from the main gate."

Some of Jerusalem's artistic heritage has been influenced by Armenian ceramics and tile-painting.

Jewish community in Armenia

Before the 1996 discovery of a medieval Jewish cemetery, it was believed that there was no Jewish presence in Armenia before modern times. A team of Armenian and Israeli historians and archaeologists excavated the site of the original discovery, and found 64 more graves. It was determined that the Jewish community in Armenia dated back at least to the 13th century. Bishop Mkrtchyan, who first discovered the cemetery, said: "At a time when you can't imagine that a country ... in Europe either helped create or didn't destroy a Jewish settlement.... It is fantastic how they could gather cultural, architectural symbolism of Jewish Armenians... and they were connected, and built one of the strongest kingdoms during [the] time of [the] Mongols."

Historians have conjectured that the first Jews arrived in Armenia shortly after the destruction of the first Temple in Jerusalem. They lived (and live) relatively peacefully with the Armenian Christians, with antisemitic incidents being a rarity. Many immigrated to Israel after the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, and 2002 estimates number the ethnic Jews in Armenia at under 1,000.

A Russified Jewish community of 800 officially remains in Armenia, primarily in Yerevan, in addition to the Subbotniks who live near Sevan. Rimma Varzhapetian-Feller, head of Armenia's Jewish community, has said that she always felt proud of Armenia when she met fellow Jews from other parts of the former Soviet Union: "We always declare everywhere that there has never been antisemitism in Armenia, that Armenia is a good place for Jews to live and, more importantly, that Armenia is quite a stable country in political and social respects". The first instances of antisemitism in Armenia occurred in September 2004 when, for the first time in Armenia's history, the Joint Tragedies Memorial in Yerevan was desecrated.

On 23 October 2004, Armenian Department for Ethnic and Religious Minority Issues head Hranoush Kharatyan accused Israeli leaders of promoting intolerance toward non-Jews in response to an incident where a yeshiva student spat on Archbishop of Jerusalem Nourhan Manougian during a religious procession in the city.Armenian archbishop quizzed over spat with yeshiva student. Haaretz, Oct 11, 2004 The student eventually apologized to the archbishop.Jerusalem yeshiva student apologizes to Armenian archbishop for spitting Haaretz, Oct. 18, 2004 During her 2012 visit to Armenia, Israeli Minister of Agriculture Orit Noked said: "We are like each other with our history, character, with our small number of population and having communities abroad."

The Jewish community of Armenia unexpectedly received a surge in population due to the mass exodus of Russians fleeing to Armenia in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Armenian genocide recognition