Israel to Boost Defense Ties with Muslim Country

Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov visits Israel to bolster the alliance.

By JNS

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz hosted his Azerbaijani counterpart Zakir Hasanov in Tel Aviv on Monday to strengthen bilateral security cooperation.

The Israel defense minister praised the deep strategic alliance between their countries, and thanked Azerbaijan for its support following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and its recent efforts to mediate between Israel and Turkey.

Katz also cited Azerbaijan’s votes in Saturday night’s Eurovision Song Contest, in which the predominantly Shi’ite Muslim nation was the only country to award Israeli singer Yuval Raphael the maximum 12 points in both the public and judges’ vote, calling it a sign of true friendship between the two governments and peoples.

For Israel, ties with Azerbaijan, which shares a 428-mile border with Iran, a country that is home to tens of millions of Azeris, are of strategic importance as a conduit for intelligence. It also supplies nearly half of the Jewish state’s oil.

At the same time, Azerbaijan is a leading purchaser of Israeli military hardware, hardware that helped Baku win the 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War against archrival Armenia.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed a scheduled state visit to Baku due to developments in the war against Hamas in Gaza.

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