Day: November 15, 2023

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev with Israeli Ambassador George Deek, December 2019 (Wikimedia Commons)

When I first heard that Israel’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan, George Deek, is an Armenian, I thought it couldn’t be true. However, I was astonished to find out that it is. As Mark Twain said: “Truth is stranger than fiction!”

Long before he became Israel’s Ambassador to Baku, Deek, in April 2015, tweeted a Facebook link with the message: “My father’s grandmother’s name was Antaraan Hambarian, an Armenian. She is a survivor of the Armenian tragedy of…”



The Facebook link was significant because it referred to an April 12, 2015 article titled: “Turkey angry at pope after ‘genocide’ remarks.” So Deek was aware that there was an Armenian Genocide, his father’s grandmother was a survivor of that Genocide, and her name was Antaraan Hamparian, even though he misspelled her first name which was most probably Antaram.

After Deek became Israel’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan in 2019, several Armenians angrily criticized him for referring to the Armenian Genocide as a ‘tragedy’ in his 2015 tweet. Here are some of the disparaging replies: “Will you survive betrayal of your ancestors?” “She would be proud of you… serving two countries actively denying the very thing that robbed her of her own family.” “Probably she would be greatly ashamed of you.” “Your poor grandmother is turning in her grave, sorry you condone ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and genocide.” “I can’t believe you have Armenian roots! SHAME ON YOU 1,500,000 times then, for SUPPORTING TERRORISTS Azerbaijan and Turkey! IT’S A SHAME FOR US THAT YOU HAVE ARMENIAN BLOOD IN YOUR VEINS!” “Your great grandmother will spit on your face if she would hear what you say!”

On Sept. 30, 2021, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) posted on its Facebook page: “Most shameful diplomatic appointment in the history of diplomacy. Genocide survivor state Israel sending George Deek (a self-described ethnic Armenian descendant of Armenian Genocide survivors) as its ambassador to Azerbaijan, a country openly working to complete this crime.”

In July 2021, Deek angered Armenians again by tweeting: “Together with the diplomatic corps in Azerbaijan, I had the historic privilege of being the first Israeli Ambassador to visit the remarkable city of Shusha,” a noteworthy Armenian town captured by Azerbaijan during the 2020 war.

In an interview with The Times of Israel on January 13, 2023, Amb. Deek described himself as ‘an Arab and an Israeli.’ His father was an Orthodox Christian of mixed Armenian and Palestinian roots. Here is an excerpt from that interview:

The Times of Israel: “When you meet Azeris and they discover you’re an Arab Christian, what kind of reactions do you get?”

Amb. Deek: “Naturally, it’s surprising and confusing for most Azeris. The sense of surprise is great for helping me explain about the diversity of Israeli society. But frankly, at this point, I’ve stopped correcting them because it gets tiring. It’s still funny when on December 24, they still wish me a Happy Hanukkah rather than Merry Christmas.”

The Times of Israel: “As an Israeli Christian, what’s your perspective on the Armenian community – which consists mainly of fellow Israeli Christians – and the challenges they face in Israel, both in connection with the Jerusalem-Baku relationship and with other non-related issues?”

Amb. Deek: “I have deep sympathy for the Armenian community in Israel, and specifically in Jaffa, where I grew up. We share the same faith and many cultural traditions. Many of my friends from school and from youth movements are Armenian. I had teachers who influenced me immensely who are Armenian, and I consider them as close friends.”

On January 5, 2023, the Azeri Caliber.az website quoted the following declaration by Amb. Deek: “Israel is proposing its assistance to Azerbaijan in the setting up of ‘smart cities’ in Armenian districts occupied by Azerbaijan.”

On January 12, 2023, Amb. Deek was interviewed on-camera by Caliber.az for a story titled, “Beyond the visible: Excavating the depths of Israeli-Azerbaijani ties with Ambassador George Deek.”

Amb. Deek made the following alarming statement: “The most important event is when Azerbaijan entered the second Karabakh war and we [Israel] have been here standing shoulder to shoulder with our partner and friend Azerbaijan. Our strategic cooperation continued and intensified during that period but also on the humanitarian field. The fact that I took the risk to go to Ganja in the middle of the attacks on the city and to talk to the local community, to meet them, to provide humanitarian support with equipment like basic things from blankets and heaters and so on to people who lost their homes and everything they could. And I think that created also the connection in the hearts, not just in the minds, so I think the second Karabakh war showed Azerbaijan what we mean when we say friend, what we mean when we say partner. For us these are not empty words of diplomats…. These are things that come from the heart and they actually have a strong meaning for us…. Israel’s position has been clear about the Karabakh issue for a long time. Israel supports Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. It has done so in words and in deeds before the second Karabakh war and after the second Karabakh war.”

He also wrongly added that “practically, the Arab-Israeli conflict is basically over.” Amb. Deek not only does not have respect for his Armenian heritage, he also has no respect for his Palestinian heritage. He must have sold his soul to the devil for his job.

The most astounding aspect of Amb. Deek’s appointment is that Israel’s Foreign Ministry officials sent an envoy with an Armenian background to Azerbaijan! Despite Amb. Deek’s effusive words about Azerbaijan, I doubt if Pres. Aliyev and the people of Azerbaijan fully trust him. In Azerbaijan, they have nothing but hatred and contempt for any Armenian, even those who are partly Armenian.

Hackers respaldados por el gobierno de la India intentaron instalar el programa espía Pegasus, de la firma israelí NSO Group, en el iPhone de un periodista indio que trabajaba para el Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) en agosto de este año, según declaraciones del cofundador de la organización, retomadas por la agencia de noticias Reuters.

El Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project es una red mundial de periodistas de investigación, conocida por documentaciones periodísticas de alto perfil sobre temas de corrupción y delincuencia organizada en distintos puntos del mundo, como los Panama Papers, famosa filtración de datos ocurrida en 2016 que expuso los negocios de políticos y empresarios internacionales. 

Anand Mangnale fue uno de los periodistas de la India que la semana pasada recibieron alertas de Apple advirtiéndoles que habían sido blanco de un ataque “patrocinado por el Estado”, el cual intentaba acceder a distancia a sus dispositivos iPhone. Las notificaciones no identificaban al gobierno que estaba detrás de los hackeos ni el software espía utilizado. 

La reciente ronda de alertas de Apple alcanzó a más de 20 personas en la India, la mayoría de ellas personas pertenecientes a la oposición política, lo que desató una nueva ola de acusaciones señalando que el gobierno está utilizando la herramientas de espionaje contra la ciudadanía, a pocos meses del inicio de las elecciones nacionales en el país asiático. 

Una investigación forense posterior a la llegada de las notificaciones vinculó la intrusión al teléfono de Mangnale con el software espía Pegasus. Este programa permite acceder a los teléfonos inteligentes de sus víctimas para obtener información sensible como la grabación de sus llamadas, activación de cámara, intercepción de mensajes o poder transformar los teléfonos en dispositivos portátiles de escucha. 

“Sea cual sea el gobierno que espía a los periodistas, no hay ninguna explicación plausible para ello que no sea el beneficio político”, afirmó Drew Sullivan de la OCCRP.

iVerify, empresa encargada de revisar el dispositivo de Anand Mangnale, afirmó haber encontrado un patrón de bloqueo sospechoso que coincidía con intrusiones de Pegasus conocidas anteriormente, lo que les llevó a afirmar que el teléfono había sido atacado con dicho software. 

Existen diversas denuncias recientes de espionaje con el software Pegasus, como el caso de la periodista independiente rusa, Galina Timchenko, quien fue infectada en febrero de este año, antes de sostener reuniones con los principales medios de comunicación independientes rusos en el exilio. Se sospecha que esta infección pudo haber sido utilizada para monitorear las conversaciones privadas que se dieron durante esa reunión.

Sumadas a las denuncias presentadas en otras partes del mundo, en nuestro país también se han documentado casos de espionaje ilegal en contra de periodistas, personas de la clase política y personas defensoras de derechos humanos, los cuales están aún en total impunidad.