Azerbaijani embassy in Israel: Baku no longer reacts to Tehran's nervous mood
International experts on Caliber.Az

INTERVIEWS  22 November 2022 - 14:40

As previously reported, Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis (Parliament) made a historic decision on November 18, 2022, to open an embassy in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. "This will be the first embassy in Israel of a Muslim country with a majority Shiite population," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said. It should be recalled that diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Israel were established in April 1992. In August 1993, an Israeli embassy was opened in Azerbaijan.

Baku's decision to open the embassy was received very positively by the Israeli leadership, in particular, by Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defence Minister Beni Ganz.

Azerbaijan has a long-standing relationship with Israel, which is of great benefit to our countries. Everyone remembers Israeli drones, which made a tangible contribution to Azerbaijan's victory in the Second Karabakh War. But cooperation is not only military. There are oil supplies, information technologies, and innovations in communication and agriculture. It is also known that Israeli business is involved in the restoration of territories liberated from the Armenian occupation.

It is also clear that there can be negative repercussions - after all, opening an embassy will certainly be another irritant to Azerbaijan's recently deteriorating relations with Iran. Iranian officials were not particularly picky in their assessments anyway, accusing Azerbaijan of "serving Zionism" every now and then.

What the significance of the Azerbaijani embassy opening in Israel is in itself? What positive aspects may be expected from this event for both countries in the future? Renowned experts shared their assessment of these events with Caliber.Az.

"Friendship and business relations between Israel and Azerbaijan have existed for many decades," said Israeli journalist Alexander Nepomniashchy.

"Cooperation in economic projects, security issues, tourism - all these areas in which relations between our countries have been developing for many years are well known. By the way, my wife and I visited Azerbaijan for the first time a couple of years ago, and we were charmed by the beauty of your country, but above all by the warm hospitality of its people.

In other words, the opening of Azerbaijan's embassy in Israel is a natural step, cementing the long years of friendship between our peoples.

It is important to note that since our country has been subjected to diplomatic harassment and boycott by influential deniers of the right to the very existence of a national Jewish state, Israeli society is very sensitive and appreciative of such diplomatic moves.

Undoubtedly, the opening of the embassy will be an additional impetus to further strengthen and develop all areas of cooperation between our countries, but, in my opinion, it is even more important, it will play an even greater role in bringing the people of our states even closer," says Nepomniaschy.

According to him, Israel emphasizes that the Azerbaijani Embassy will be the first embassy of the country, the majority of whose residents are the followers of Shiite Islam: "In other words, we are talking about a historic event!"

He also understands the political "timing": Azerbaijan, like Israel, has to reckon with the opinion of its neighbours in its foreign policy. At the same time, against the background of the recently increased unfriendly steps of the Iranian political leadership towards Azerbaijan, the decision of the Milli Majlis may be seen as a desire to strengthen regional stability.

"It should be noted that an important factor is a confident victory in the recent elections in Israel of the right-wing bloc under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu, who, as can be seen, will form a new cabinet of ministers in the coming weeks and become the leader of the Israeli state.

Netanyahu is a staunch supporter of developing and strengthening Israel's regional ties with neighbouring states. Just a few years ago, it was he who succeeded in concluding historic peace agreements with a number of key Muslim Arab countries, including the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco.

Just before the Milli Majlis decision, Turkish President Erdogan called Netanyahu to congratulate him on his election victory. It can be assumed that their long telephone conversation went far beyond formal diplomatic formulas and touched on a wide range of regional issues.

Who knows, maybe in the future Azerbaijan will play a key role in the restoration of good-neighborly relations between Israel and Türkiye, and in the longer term - if the situation in Iran develops on an optimistic scenario for the region, in the formation and strengthening of ties of the Jewish state with the people of Iran," Nepomniashchy said.

The opening of the Azerbaijani embassy is certainly a landmark event, said Sergey Danilov, deputy director of the Centre for Middle East Studies (Kyiv). This step by Baku shows that Azerbaijan no longer reacts to the negative statements of the Iranian authorities and does not give in to the blackmail of its southern neighbour. Also, the Azerbaijani authorities apparently expect public opinion to view the move positively. Israel is seen as a friendly country that helped build a modern army. This change in agenda has come as a result of successful military operations to liberate the occupied territories.

"At the same time, the Azerbaijani authorities believe that pro-Iranian elements within the country are either marginalised or unpopular and will not be able to destabilise the situation. The theocratic Iranian regime pursues an openly hostile policy towards Azerbaijan. As a result, even the most loyal Khomeini supporters find it difficult to support the Iranian course when Iranian troops simulate an attack on your country or make harsh anti-Azerbaijani statements with direct threats.

The decision to open an embassy comes against a backdrop of unprecedented mass protests in Iran, particularly in southern Azerbaijan. It is unclear whether this protest wave will lead to the overthrow of the regime, but it is clear that the power of the mullahs is now much weaker. And in this sense the Azerbaijani parliament's decision was taken at the right time," Danilov believes.

Caliber.Az