Strengthening strategic partnership, or decision that took years to reach Azerbaijan's embassy in the Promised Land

The opening of Azerbaijan's embassy in Israel is not a spontaneous decision in order to please some geopolitical aspects, but an event that our countries have been moving towards consistently for many years. That evolution of relations deserves the closest scrutiny of contemporary political history scholars, moreover, the opening of our embassy in Israel should be considered one of the important stages of forming the atmosphere of security and political balance in the Middle East.

Against the backdrop of our country's multi-vector policy, many states observe with a certain envy one of its diplomatic achievements - the high level of relations between Baku and Tel Aviv. This cooperation did not start yesterday; since the late 1990s, Azerbaijani-Israeli relations have been characterized as a strategic partnership. But they had their basis long before that - one of the largest Jewish communities has been living in Azerbaijan happily and safely for more than one hundred years, and it is well remembered and appreciated in Israel.

For these reasons, Israel's special role in its relations with Baku is understandable. It is no accident that Israel (along with brotherly Türkiye) provided significant assistance to military and technical re-equipment of the Azerbaijani armed forces that also played an important role in the 44-day war of 2020. It could not be otherwise - Israel understood everything very well, it was on the side of justice.

And here is the obvious conclusion - building relations between Baku and Tel-Aviv should not only be seen as a factor of successful bilateral relations, but they also have a much broader regional significance. Nor should we forget Baku's great contribution to the normalisation of relations between Türkiye and Israel. Thus, the Türkiye-Israel-Azerbaijan strategic triangle is now one of the political determinants in the Middle East and South Caucasus regions.

It is indeed no coincidence that Azerbaijan has come to this long-awaited decision right now. A certain defining pattern should also be considered here - it is now, and again, that a political force led by Benjamin Netanyahu has come to power in Israel. Perhaps, like no one else, he is a close friend of Azerbaijan, who laid the foundation of a special strategic partnership between the two countries in 1997 together with national leader Heydar Aliyev.

Baku's decision to open an embassy in Tel Aviv was warmly welcomed in Israel at all levels, from society to the leadership of the country. Tel Aviv said the move by Azerbaijan reflected the depth of relations between the two countries. Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid welcomed the decision of the Azerbaijani Parliament, adding "the step is a result of the Israeli government's efforts to build strong political bridges with the Islamic world."

Opening the Azerbaijani Embassy in Israel is an event of great importance. This step will serve both the benefit of the peoples of Israel and Azerbaijan and the stability of the region as a whole. In a conversation with Caliber.Az, this opinion was shared by Israeli political analyst and journalist Roman Gurevich.

In his opinion, this is a logical consequence of the centuries-old history of relations that have evolved between the peoples.

"For many years Azerbaijan has tried to behave carefully and delicately with all its neighbours, and, for example, by getting closer to Israel, it sought not to spoil relations with its other neighbours in the region - for example, with Iran. And now there is anti-Azerbaijani hysteria in Iran, when accusations are addressed to Baku for the deployment of certain Zionist forces in Azerbaijani territory, projecting aggression on Iran. All this nonsense has not spoiled, as believed in Tehran, but only strengthened the Azerbaijani-Israeli relations," the political analyst said.

According to him, the opening of the Azerbaijani embassy in the Jewish state will launch a powerful impetus to the development of relations between the countries, both in the economic sector, and in the exchange of innovations and technology, and will boost the entire spectrum of relations between Baku and Tel Aviv.

"This decision highlights the wisdom as well as the great determination and political courage of the Azerbaijani leadership understanding that there are forces that will be dissatisfied with this decision, but continues to pursue an independent foreign policy, including building a strategic partnership with Israel," Gurevich said.

The fact that the expert is right and that cooperation of our countries against the background of significant events is indeed expanding, moreover, in the most important areas, such as high technology, speaks for objective facts. For instance, it is known that the Centre for Cyber Security, which will soon open in Azerbaijan with the support of Israel, will train IT specialists.

In the meantime, the opening of a diplomatic mission to Palestine on the same day as Israel should also be considered an indicator of Azerbaijani leadership's commitment to the principles of multi-vector policy and the values of Islamic solidarity. After all, Azerbaijan has always developed bilateral cooperation that meets its national interests and is not directed against third countries.