Rabbi: Muslim nations should follow Azerbaijan's model of coexistence with Jews

Azerbaijan should join the Abraham Accords to serve as a model of coexistence and lead other Muslim-majority states to join the treaty, said Azerbaijan Sephardi Chief Rabbi Zamir Isayev.

In an interview with The Jerusalem Post at the Voice of the People Conference, Isayev, one of the 150 delegates for the forum to solve the Jewish people’s most urgent problems, explained that other countries would be able to “learn from Azerbaijan how to negotiate and be in a relationship with Israel,” Caliber.Az reports. 

“Azerbaijan’s relationship with Israel is a model of coexistence between Jews and Muslims. Azerbaijan can share its experience,” said Isayev. “I think we have to use this Azerbaijani model of multiculturalism and coexistence that exists in Azerbaijan and share it with other countries, especially with Muslim countries. The Azerbaijan model is showing us that there is a possibility to live another way, to live together and to grow and to develop together.”

While Azerbaijan has already had good relations with Israel for decades, according to Isayev, the Abraham Accords were not just about economic cooperation and security.

On March 5, Shas MK Simon Moshiashvili mentioned the Baku rabbi in the Knesset last Wednesday when he proposed to upgrade the strategic relations between Israel and Azerbaijan with their addition to the Abraham Accords. Isayev said he was grateful for the mention and proposal.

The Prime Minister’s Office responded that they were doing everything to increase trilateral ties with Azerbaijan and the US, which Isayev welcomed. Isayev asserted that Azerbaijan could serve as a model for other Muslim-majority nations because they “don’t have any antisemitism.”

The 25,000-30,000 Jews living in the country “can go down the street with a kippah, can sit outside – also the Israeli tourists very much enjoy to visit Baku, to be safe in Baku. So that’s why it’s a very unique place.”

Still, the rabbi acknowledged, with the country bordering Iran, there was concern about foreign governments acting against them. Jewish sites, schools, and kindergartens increased security in the wake of the October 7 massacre, “but Azerbaijani government officials are doing everything to make our life as safe as they can,” Isayev said. “We don’t feel any difference from before October 7.”

Isayev noted that education about Jews and Israelis had improved in the state, citing a February IMPACT-se study. The study found advancements in textbooks that treated Jews respectfully, with a definition of antisemitism, condemnation of the Holocaust, and a more balanced discussion of Israel and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

“It’s very important, I think, because the education of the next generation is the most important issue,” said Isayev. “Most of the problems that we have with countries or in Gaza, with Palestinians, is because of their education and their teaching their children to hate the Jews.”

To Isayev, it was vital to learn to respect one’s countrymen and support one another. This comes not just from education, but from Azerbaijani tradition and culture.

“Jewish citizens of Azerbaijan are a very active part of the Azerbaijani society,” said the rabbi.

By Khagan Isayev