Azerbaijan–Israel relations

Israel-Azerbaijan relations

Israel	Azerbaijan

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Azerbaijan and Israel have had diplomatic relations since 1991. Azerbaijan is the only majority Muslim country besides Turkey to develop bilateral strategic and economic relations with Israel.

Background

Azerbaijan has no anti-Semitic tradition, on the contrary, the country has prided itself on its excellent relations with Israel and the Jewish minority in the country . Prior to Azerbaijan's independence in 1991, Azerbaijani-Jewish friendship also actively developed during the Soviet years.

Another aspect of warm relations between Israel and Azerbaijan is currently evolving strategic partnership of both countries with Turkey and the United States. This cooperation have enabled Azerbaijan and Turkey to enlist the support of the Israeli-American lobby in defusing the attempts of the small yet powerful Armenian-American lobby to influence the U.S. foreign policy towards these countries .

Azerbaijan is a home to some 11,000 Mountain Jews, residing primarily in Baku and Krasnaya Sloboda settlement in the Quba district of Azerbaijan. There are also nearly 5000 Ashkenazi Jews living mostly in Baku. The first Jewish Sochnut school in the Soviet Union was opened in 1982 in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan SSR.

Israel-Azerbaijan Strategic Relations

As a result of Nagorno-Karabakh War, which ended with a Russian brokered ceasefire in May, 1994, 16% of Azerbaijani territory remains under Armenian control to this day. Throughout the conflict Israel supported the Azerbaijani side. According to London based Arabic language weekly al-Wassat, Turkey and Israel have provided Stinger missiles to Azerbaijan during the war.

Israeli-Azerbaijani ties have been expanding since the very early 1990's. The strategic relationship included cooperation in trade and security matters, cultural and educational exchanges, etc. In March 2005, Israeli cultural festival was held in Azerbaijan. Relations entered a new phase in August 1997 during the visit of then the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Baku. Since then Israel has been developing closer ties with Azerbaijan and have helped modernize the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan. Israeli military is said to have been a major provider of battlefield aviation, artillery, antitank, and anti-infantry weaponry to Azerbaijan .

Security Relations

Following an October 2001 meeting with Israeli ambassador Eitan Naeh, Azerbaijan's former president Heydar Aliyev declared their positions in the fight against international terrorism to be identical . Israeli intelligence helps collect human intelligence about extremist Islamist organizations in the region. In a Washington Institute for Near East Policy analysis, analysts Soner Cagaptay and Alexander Murinson alluded to reports that Israeli intelligence maintains listening posts along the Azerbaijani border with Iran, which, according to the U.S. State Department, is the benefactor of numerous terrorist organizations operating in the region .

Being secular states, both Israel and Azerbaijan have significant fears of radical Islam. One of the radical Islamic groups Hizb ut-Tahrir, which seeks both Israel's annihilation threaten both Jerusalem and Baku. Hizb ut-Tahrir is suspected of having several hundred members in Azerbaijan. Dozens have been arrested.

Trade Relations

Economic cooperation between Israel and Azerbaijan has been growing significantly. As Azerbaijan deregulated its industries and liberalized economy in early 1990's, Israeli companies penetrated Azerbaijani markets. Many companies have invested in service industry. One example is Bezeq, a major telephone subsidiary. Through a trade contract bid in 1994, Bezeq bought a large share of the telephone operating system. Today it installs phone lines and operates regional services throughout much of the country. Another company, Bakcell, was started as a joint venture between Ministry of Communication of Azerbaijan and GTIB (Israel) in early 1994 as the first cellular telephone operator in the country. As well, dozens of Israeli companies are present in Azerbaijani energy sector. For instance, Modcon Systems Ltd., an Israel-based supplier of high technology to the oil and gas industries, opened its branch in Azerbaijan.

Between 2000 and 2005, Israel has risen from being Azerbaijan's tenth largest trading partner to its fifth. According to U.N. statistics, between 1997 and 2004, exports from Azerbaijan to Israel increased from barely over US$2 million to $323 million, fueled in recent years by the high price of oil .

Growing interest in Energy security

On June 5, 2007, the 14th Caspian Oil & Gas exhibition was opened in Baku, Azerbaijan. The 14th Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition opened on 5 June 2007 in Baku. Delivering a speech during the exhibition, Ambassador of Israel to Azerbaijan since April, 2005, Arthur Lenk, spoke of continuous trade between Azerbaijan and Israel in the energy sector. The Ambassador noted that until the inauguration of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in 2006, Israel was a key consumer of Azerbaijani oil exports. At the present, the proximity of Ceyhan to Israel, offers excellent new opportunities for greater participation of Israel in this sector of economy, thus creating additional areas for collaboration and mutual benefit. The Ambassador specifically underlined that through Ashkelon-Eilat pipeline, Israel can be a strategic partner for marketing Caspian oil to Asia. “Over the past year, discussions have begun examining the feasibility of a pipeline corridor – with the possibility of carrying oil, natural gas and water from Turkey to Israel. Such a plan, if carried out, would extend the position of Azerbaijani crude to the edge of the Indian Ocean” he said. Efforts of Israel in developing alternative energy resources, especially in regards to solar energy, were mentioned. Israel seeks possibilities of importing gas from the Caspian Sea region..

Prominent people of Jewish origin from Azerbaijan

• Solomon Gusman - honored Doctor of Medical Science
• Yuli Gusman - Russian TV host and journalist
• Gavriil Abramovich Ilizarov - orthpedician
• Telman Ismailov - Russian enterpreneur
• Garry Kasparov - chess grandmaster and world champion
• Lev Landau - physicist, Nobel Prize winner
• Lev Nussimbaum - writer
• Teimur Radjabov - chess grandmaster
• Mstislav Rostropovich - cellist

See also

• Mountain Jews
• Krasnaya Sloboda
• Jews of Azerbaijan
• Azerbaijani Jews