THERE WILL BE EMBASSY!

Finally, the speculation and long discussions about the opening of an Azerbaijani embassy to Israel are over.

On November 18, Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis passed a historic resolution to open an embassy in Israel and a diplomatic mission in Palestine. Israeli media praised the move and noted that the embassy in Tel Aviv will be the first embassy of a Shiite-majority country in Israel. Apparently, this statement also implies that Iran, as a political stronghold of Shiism, has proved powerless to do anything by exploiting this factor.

The path started by Heydar Aliyev

Tehran's negative position on the possibility of Azerbaijan’s opening an embassy in Israel was believed to be the main reason why Azerbaijan delayed the decision until recently. This could have had a negative impact on the balance of interests in the region in favour of Armenia, particularly during the Garabagh conflict.

However, after the 44-day war, when the Iranian conservative leadership adopted a distinctly pro-Armenian stance and chose the path of political and military pressure on Baku, there were no more deterrents to opening an Azerbaijani embassy.

The accelerated restoration of relations between Israel and Azerbaijan's strategic ally Turkey has largely contributed to the decision as well. In addition, the new Israeli government is once again led by Benjamin Netanyahu, an old friend of Azerbaijan. He was the first and only Israeli prime minister to visit Azerbaijan 25 years ago, in August 1997, when he met the patriarch of Azerbaijani politics, President Heydar Aliyev.

The opening of an Azerbaijani embassy in Israel was discussed in detail even at that time. By 1997, the Israeli embassy in Baku had been operating for four years, since August 1993. But at that time Baku refrained from such a step because it didn’t want to exacerbate relations with neighbouring Iran, as well as several Arab countries with extremely negative stance towards Israel. The situation was not favourable for Azerbaijan, which had only recently joined the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), currently known as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The two leading members of the OIC, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan (as well as Turkey) refused to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia, which occupied the Azerbaijani territories. Their position contributed greatly to the adoption of resolutions within the OIC, condemning the occupation policy of Yerevan. Had Azerbaijan at that time opened an embassy in Israel, it could have been isolated in the Islamic world.

The Israeli side has always taken Baku's concerns into account and has not insisted on doing so.

At the same time, President Heydar Aliyev pursued a policy of close cooperation and friendship with the State of Israel and the Jewish communities of the world, especially the US. All conditions were created in Azerbaijan for the free humanitarian development of the Jewish community, which was highly appreciated by Tel Aviv.

A remarkable historical fact illustrates the relations between Azerbaijan and Israel. Back in 2001, during a meeting with President Heydar Aliyev, former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the then Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, strongly criticised Baku's Middle East policy. He said that predominantly Shiite Muslim Azerbaijan lacked a sense of Islamic solidarity and instead of supporting the Palestinians Baku was expanding cooperation with Israel.

Heydar Aliyev, however, countered Rouhani's rebuke by arguing that Baku in no way intended to revise its relations with the US and Israel. "Any Iranian pressure in this direction will be completely ineffective," Aliyev said, adding that Azerbaijan would never turn into an Islamic republic similar to the Iranian one.

Based on strong interests

President Ilham Aliyev has continued this political tradition by strengthening Azerbaijani-Israeli relations in every way possible. The establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and a number of Arab states thanks to the Abraham Accords, as well as Azerbaijan's victory in the 44-day war, including with Israeli weapons, have deepened the relations between Azerbaijan nad Israel.

On July 29, 2021, Azerbaijan opened its trade and tourism offices in Tel Aviv. This is an indicator of the significance that the two sides attach to mutual trade and economic cooperation, primarily in the energy sector. Over the past decades Azerbaijan has been the leading oil supplier to the Israeli market.

Currently, Azerbaijani oil supplies cover about 20% of Israel's demand in oil. Since the first months of the war in Ukraine, Azerbaijan has increased oil supplies to Israel by more than 70%.

In general, according to the State Customs Committee, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Israel during the ten months of 2022 reached $1,195,341,000. As for tourism, the number of Israeli citizens visiting Azerbaijan has been steadily increasing every year (22,083 persons in January-October 2022). Compared to the same period last year, this number increased more than 4.4 times. In recent years, there has been a corresponding increase in the number of direct flights between Baku and Tel Aviv.

As for the military-technical cooperation, it still makes an impressive part of bilateral cooperation between our countries. Earlier the sides signed a $5 billion contract for the purchase of Israeli weapons. This is the most expensive contract ever signed by Azerbaijan with a foreign country. Our countries are also developing the joint production of military products.

Remarkably, in addition to an embassy in Israel, Azerbaijan is also opening a representative office in Palestine. Not in Jerusalem, but in Tel Aviv. Baku thus underlines that it respects the OIC decision confirming Tel Aviv as the capital of Israel.

By the way, the Israeli leadership respects Baku's decision. The outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid welcomed Azerbaijan's intention to open an embassy in Israel and pointed to the importance of this step in terms of establishing contacts between Israelis and Muslim countries.

"Azerbaijan is an important partner of Israel and home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the Muslim world. The decision to open an embassy reflects the depth of relations between our countries. This move is the result of the Israeli government's efforts to build strong political bridges with the Muslim world," Lapid said.

The decision is not subject to review

On the same day when Azerbaijan adopted a decision to open an embassy in Israel, Iranian ambassador to Baku Seyid Abbas Musavi met with Hikmet Hajiyev, aide to the president of Azerbaijan and head of the foreign policy department of the presidential administration. The sides have likely discussed the subject as well.

Baku has made it clear that it would not change its decision, which may give rise to anti-Azerbaijani sentiments among the Iranian political leadership. In the current circumstances, however, it no longer matters much to Baku.

The Israeli leadership and personally President Itzhak Herzog thanked President Ilham Aliyev for the decision to open an Azerbaijani embassy in Israel. Herzog said it was "a big step forward in the excellent relations with Azerbaijan, which is an important friendly country and strategic partner for Israel".

With the opening of the embassy, we can expect even more progress in relations between our states. The current phase of bilateral cooperation is based on Israel's involvement in the reconstruction of Garabagh and Eastern Zangezur. Today, along with traditional areas of cooperation, agriculture is becoming one of the main priorities of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel. A project on the production and storage of food wheat is expected to be completed soon. Israel also intends to implement several projects on dairy farms and cultivation of orchids.

Thus, while some neighbouring countries are assessing the risks of cooperation between Israel and Azerbaijan and conducting demonstrative military exercises, Baku and Tel Aviv are implementing constructive projects that bring peace and prosperity to the region.