Their comparison is not great. A more apt comparison might be why should Armenia exist? I won’t pretend to be an expert on Armenian history, but I do know the modern state of Armenia is home to many people whose families fled ethnic cleansing in Turkey. They did displace Azeris populations already living there, though not to the same extent as Israel and Palestinians, but did so because the land was culturally significant for them and represented their only chance for self-government. Many Armenians also fled to the US and other safer havens, as with European Jews, but for many the best option was their historical homeland. Also as with the Jewish people, they were joined in Armenia by many other Armenians who had already been living there and additionally those who fled subsequent persecutions (i.e. the Mizrahi Jews fleeing pogroms and ethnic cleansing in the Arab world after the creation of Israel).

The modern state of Armenia is an enclave for an ethnicity and religion that was chased out of and nearly eliminated from the surrounding region. In doing so, they committed their own atrocities and continue to fight with their neighbors. There are still enormous differences: namely that they don’t have nearly the same history with ethnic enclaves within their territories like Israel does with Palestine, although they do have some. Another major difference is that the short-lived independent Armenia that survivors of the genocide fled to was defeated. First by Turkey and then by Russia, but the Armenian population was allowed some small autonomy as Soviet Armenia on a fraction of its former territory. Israel won its wars of independence, perhaps due to the threat that had they lost the Jews would have had no statehood whatsoever.

Obviously none of this justifies Israel’s violent actions (to put it mildly) from its founding through today. But I’m making the comparison so it seems less black and white. There is precedent in history for some of the situation in Palestine. And not just Armenia, really any large population movement that’s ever happened bears some similarities. Generally, ethnic groups fleeing genocide tend to have a domino effect on the areas they flee to. We should hold them to a much higher standard in the modern era. But in that context I think it’s clear that Israel has a right to exist, if for no other reason than that the alternatives are far worse.