YEREVAN. – Armenia took steps to deepen relations with Israel in 2017, Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an annual report summing up 2017.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian visited Jerusalem in November 2017 at the invitation of his  Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu. During next official visit, Edward Nalbandian met with Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein and Minister of Territorial Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi.

On July 25 2017, Edward Nalbandian and Tzachi Hanegbi, who arrived in Yerevan on an official visit, signed the agreement to lift visas for holders of diplomatic passports, convention on the avoidance of double taxation and program of cultural, educational and scientific, sports and youth cooperation.

Contacts are ongoing in the inter-parliamentary format. Public forums were held in January in Israel and in September in Armenia.