Eugene Kogan
Middle East Institute, Apr. 3, 2023
“The experience of the Sept. 27-Nov. 10, 2020 war between Azerbaijan and Armenia underscored for Baku the critical value of bilateral Azerbaijani-Israeli relations, and it reinforced the picture of Israel as not just a friendly country but also a reliable source of high-quality arms even in the middle of hostilities.”
Israeli-Azerbaijani relations are based on two main pillars: patient and cordial political relations as well as defence cooperation and arms sales. While the former reached a more intensive level this year, with the opening of an Azerbaijani embassy in Tel Aviv in late March, the latter pillar of the relationship was well developed long before, as Israel became Azerbaijan’s largest weapons supplier.
Political developments
After decades of keeping a low diplomatic profile vis-à-vis Israel, in November 2022 the Azerbaijani parliament approved a bill on opening an embassy in Tel Aviv. This was a historic decision as, until then, Azerbaijan had consistently rejected Israeli overtures to send a permanent ambassador, despite the opening of an Israeli embassy in Baku in August 1993. It took almost 30 years for Azerbaijan to reciprocate since the country’s leadership did not want to alienate other Muslim-majority states or provoke the Iranian authorities, who blamed Israel for worsening relations along the Baku-Tehran axis.
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