A former advisor to the Armed Forces of Armenia filmed himself in an antisemitic rant, claiming that he will assist Hamas and Hezbollah in killing Jews, "I will scream to the whole world, about the just killing of Jews."
Political scientist Vladimir Poghosyan is known as an expert on national security in Armenia, he recently filmed himself with his cell phone, while making outrageous statements against Jews, in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre in Israel. The video was shared on social media and is currently in a number of Telegram groups.
He continued: "You jackals must be exterminated completely. As someone who has been involved in intelligence all his life, performed operations at the level of your Mossad and even higher," Poghosyan stated. He then went on to say that Israel is lucky that he hasn't assisted either Hamas or Hezbollah, "if only my intellect worked for Hezbollah or Hamas, not [only] 1,000 of your people would have been killed [on October 7, where 1,200 were killed], but 100,000 people. I will consider the destruction of all of your people, as the highest act of justice."
Armenian comments on Israeli power
In the past, he was an adviser to the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia. He was also an ex-assistant to the former chief adviser to the President of Armenia on national security issues. "I never recognized the Holocaust," he said at the beginning of the video, adding "Jews are a destructive people, who have no right to be on this earth."
Poghosyan went on to say that Israel is "a fascist state... You are Jews... helping Azerbaijan to kill our people. You supply them with weapons." In a recent interview with The Jerusalem Post, Armenia’s ambassador to Israel, Arman Akopian, said Azerbaijan has been using Israeli weapons to maintain its power over Nagorno-Karabakh, including against civilians.
In an earlier interview, Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Israel, Mukhtar Mammadov, told the Post that the Armenians have been smuggling their own weapons into the region that would eventually be used against his country. He also said that Azerbaijan is not forcing anyone to leave Karabakh but would like to integrate the residents into Azerbaijan.
Poghosyan repeated a number of times that Jews have been wandering for centuries, therefore "you suckers have not left your mark in any country in the world, never. You have always been situational temporary workers killing different people."
He even went on to claim that the Leaning Tower of Pisa was built by a Jew "the jew who designed the Leaning Tower of Pisa raised a lot of money, escaped, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa continues to fall." He also repeated a sentiment that Jews have always been "temporary workers." After the October 7 massacre, Poghosyan explained "I will help your enemies intellectually," and threatened to kill Jews, by saying "I will not encourage the killing of Jews, I will help kill Jews... I will scream to the whole world, about the just killing of Jews."
Poghosyan related to Israel's support of Azerbaijan, "We will never forgive you for the murder of our soldiers you fagot f**ing instructors." He went on to claim that the "morons" in America were giving Israeli ammunition that it will later sell to Azerbaijan. He concluded by saying he would "welcome the killing of Jews. Your entire nation has been deservedly destroyed since the time of Hitler.
Armenian-Israeli relations have become complex in recent years. After the October 7 massacre, the Armenian Foreign Ministry tweeted a message of condolences, without mentioning Hamas or the attack of terrorists in the homes of civilians. "We are shocked by the violence between the Palestinians and Israel and targeting of civilian population. We express condolences to relatives of victims and speedy recovery to those wounded. We join international calls to stop the violence," the tweet on X said.
We are shocked by the violence between the Palestinians and Israel and targeting of civilian population. We express condolences to relatives of victims and speedy recovery to those wounded. We join international calls to stop the violence.
— MFA of Armenia (@MFAofArmenia) October 7, 2023
Earlier on Thursday, the Post reported that a synagogue in Yerevan, Armenia was set on fire on Wednesday, according to Azerbaijani Ambassador to Germany Nasimi Aghayev who shared footage of the attack. The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) claimed responsibility for attacking the synagogue, according to Azerbaijani media. The report continued that ASALA stated their plans to continue attacks against the Jewish community outside of Armenia.
In 2020, Roman Gurevich, an Azerbajani-Israeli political analyst, wrote an op-ed, published in the Post. He quoted Fern Sidman of The Jewish Voice in New York wrote an article titled “Armenian antisemitism rears its ugly head again.”A synagogue in Yerevan, Armenia, which is the country’s only synagogue, was burned last night. Alarming rise in #antisemitism in Armenia makes its small Jewish community quite vulnerable. According to @ADL study, Armenia is the 2nd most antisemitic country in Europe. pic.twitter.com/mbXQzTXhkQ
— Nasimi Aghayev (@NasimiAghayev) November 15, 2023
In it she says, “In a key symptom inherent in oppressed, closed and wholly mono-ethnic societies, Armenia is cited as the least tolerant toward Jews among 18 countries in Central and Eastern Europe in data published by the Pew Research Center. Fully 32% of Armenian survey respondents said they would not even accept Jews as fellow citizens. That figure is jarring, but actually, not surprising.”
According to the Index of Antisemitism of the Anti-Defamation League, Armenia is the most saturated with antisemitism among the post-Soviet countries, with anti-Jewish sentiments shared by 58% of its population.
Arman Akopian, Armenian Ambassador to Israel, responded to the report: "Vladimir Poghosyan is a private citizen, and his views are his own only. They do not represent in any way neither the official position of the Armenian Government, nor the sentiments of the overwhelming majority of the civil society."
He added: "I would suggest to contact the representatives of the Jewish community in Armenia in order to receive firsthand information on the real state of affairs."
MAAYAN-JAFFE HOFFMAN and DANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD contributed to this report.