By Chuck Holton | Reporting from Tel Aviv

What began as a border skirmish has now erupted into a full-blown regional crisis. I’m reporting from Tel Aviv tonight, but the real action is happening just over the border in Syria—where Israel has launched its most aggressive military campaign in years. The target: the newly forming al-Sharah regime and its allied militias, who have begun an ethnic cleansing campaign against Syria’s Druze population.

This is not just another Middle East conflict. This is a moment of moral clarity, geopolitical gamble, and military muscle—all unfolding in real time.

“Rape, Humiliate, Kill—but Don’t Film It.”

That’s the chilling message being spread by Syrian regime-backed militias fighting against the Druze. According to vetted sources on the ground, Bedouin factions—some aligned with ISIS—have been moving house-to-house in the Druze region of Suwayda, murdering civilians and filming atrocities… until recently. Their new instruction? Keep committing crimes—but stop recording them.

These militias are not rogue actors. They are being backed, armed, and in many cases directed by the Syrian regime, now led by President Ahmed al-Sharah. And the United States—astonishingly—is signaling support for this regime, asking Israel to pause its strikes just days after U.S. officials met with al-Sharah in Azerbaijan.

While most Americans haven't paid much attention to the South Caucasus, a quiet but bitter diplomatic controversy is brewing there—one that’s putting Israel’s foreign policy under an uncomfortable spotlight.

You might assume Israel would naturally side with Armenia: a Christian-majority country that suffered genocide in the 20th century and faces constant threats from larger, more aggressive neighbors. Sounds familiar, right?

Instead, Israel has chosen to deepen its strategic alliance with Azerbaijan, a wealthy authoritarian regime with close ties to Turkey and a long history of aggression toward Armenia. For Armenians—in Israel, in the homeland, and across the global diaspora—this feels like betrayal. And they’re not staying quiet about it.

Here’s why this alliance exists, and why it’s deeply troubling to many.

Oil, Drones, and Iran: The Geopolitical Calculus

Let’s start with the basics: Azerbaijan gives Israel three things Armenia can’t.

1. Oil
Roughly 40 percent of Israel’s oil comes from Azerbaijan. That’s not a detail—it’s a lifeline. A stable, overland energy route from the Caspian Sea to Israel via Turkey is critical to keeping the lights on in Tel Aviv.

2. Eyes on Iran
Azerbaijan shares a 428-mile border with Iran. That proximity makes it a prime staging ground for Israeli intelligence operations.
Multiple sources have confirmed that Israel operates surveillance drones, early warning radar, and possibly even special operations units from inside Azerbaijan—tracking Iranian missile sites, nuclear facilities, and IRGC movements in real time.

3. A Lucrative Arms Market
Israel is Azerbaijan’s second-largest arms supplier. In the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, Israeli-made Harop suicide drones and Hermes surveillance aircraft helped Azerbaijan crush Armenian positions with devastating precision.
Arms sales to Baku total billions of dollars—and help fund Israel’s own defense research and development.

So while Armenia shares historical and cultural similarities with Israel, Azerbaijan offers cold, hard strategic value.

A Moral Contradiction

That’s the calculation in Jerusalem. But in Yerevan—and in the hearts of Armenians around the world—it’s seen very differently.

Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity, and has sheltered Jews for centuries without a history of antisemitism.
120,000 ethnic Armenians were forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023–24 in what many observers—including genocide scholars—called ethnic cleansing.
Despite this, Israel continued to arm Azerbaijan even as international human rights organizations sounded the alarm.
To add insult to injury, Israel still hasn’t formally recognized the Armenian Genocide, largely due to pressure from Turkey and Azerbaijan.

This has fueled growing anger—especially in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem, where tensions between locals and nationalist Jewish settlers have escalated in recent years. Armenian clergy have reported being spat on, their property vandalized, and their historic land threatened by government-backed development deals.

In short: the world’s only Jewish state is cozying up to a regime accused of wiping out an ancient Christian population—and Armenian Christians are watching in disbelief.

Is Change Possible?

Some voices in Israel are calling for a shift.

Prominent Jewish academics, Christian leaders, and members of the Knesset have urged the government to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
Western support for Armenia is growing, especially as it seeks stronger ties with the EU and NATO.
Azerbaijan’s increasing authoritarianism—and its alignment with Iran when convenient—may eventually force Israel to reevaluate.

But for now, realpolitik rules. And the message from Jerusalem is clear: strategic interests trump moral alignment.

Why Americans Should Care

This story matters far beyond the Caucasus. It’s a case study in the hard choices small nations make to survive. But it also raises uncomfortable questions for anyone who values human rights:

Should the U.S. and Israel continue to arm regimes that ethnically cleanse civilians?
How do we balance strategic alliances with moral leadership?
And when Christians in the Middle East cry out for help, who will stand with them?

Americans—especially Christians who support Israel—should take a closer look at what’s happening in Armenia. This isn’t just about oil, or Iran, or drones.

It’s about justice.

And justice should never be optional.

A senior Houthi official just gave a rare interview to Israeli media outlet Ynet, and the message was anything but ambiguous. In the official’s words:

“We want Israel erased and Al‑Aqsa Mosque purified… its end is a divine certainty.”

Let that sink in. While the world debates ceasefires and humanitarian corridors, the Houthis—already launching missiles toward Israel—are stating openly that the very existence of the Jewish state is unacceptable.

This isn’t just fiery rhetoric. It’s a chilling reminder that ideology—not just politics or borders—is at the heart of this conflict. The Houthis see themselves as part of the Iranian-backed "Axis of Resistance," and they are not shy about their end goal.

There’s no video or audio of the interview, and the official’s name wasn’t released—raising questions about sourcing. But the tone, language, and message are perfectly in line with the group’s stated doctrine. Their slogan literally reads:
“God is great, death to America, death to Israel, curse on the Jews, victory to Islam.”

This is what Israel is up against—not just in Gaza, but from Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, and Tehran.

When someone says they want to wipe you off the map, believe them.