A convoy of cars carrying pro-Armenian Israelis have made their way to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in solidarity with Armenia and in opposition to the Israeli sale of drones and armaments to Azerbaijan, with whom Armenia is now in open conflict with.
Draped in the colours of the Armenian flag, the convoy was organised in response to the fighting over the Artsakh region, known officially as Nagorno-Karabakh. A region that is officially within Azerbaijani territory but populated by ethnic Armenian Christians who claim they are discriminated against by the Azerbaijani state. Hundreds have died in the last two weeks of fighting.
Many analysts claim that missiles and drones sold by Israeli to Azerbaijan give the regime an advantage over the Armenian forces and that they have been used indiscriminately against Armenian civilians. On the 1st of October, Armenia withdrew their ambassador to Israeli over weapons sales to Azerbaijan.
In an interview, an aide to the Azerbaijani leadership, Hikmat Hajiyev, stated that:
"[We] have one of the strongest [drone] fleets in the region. And among them we have Israeli ones, we have other drones as well, but Israeli drones especially, including reconnaissance and attack drones, and kamikaze 'Harop' drones, [which] have proved itself very effective."
Video footage released by Azerbaijani television showed their military hardware in action attacking Armenian positions in Artsakh. Whether this involved Israeli-made weapons is unclear.
Armenians are not however, the only ones in Israel voicing their position over the conflict. Pro-Azerbaijan protestors gathered on the 17th of October in Tel Aviv where a brawl erupted with pro-Armenian demonstrators. No one was seriously injured in the skirmish.
Israel does not currently recognise the Armenian genocide that killed 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of Turkish forces at the start of the 20th century.
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