The MKs thanked their hosts for supporting Israel and for the warm treatment of the Azeri Jewish community.
By United with Israel Staff
The Knesset’s Israel-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Friendship Group held an official visit to Baku last week “with the purpose of strengthening the relations between the Knesset and the National Assembly of Azerbaijan,” the Knesset said.
Members of Knesset Evgeny Sova (Yisrael Beitenu), Osher Shkalim (Likud), Tatiana Mazarsky (Yesh Atid) and Almog Cohen (Otzma Yehudit) represented the Knesset in meetings with National Assembly Speaker Sahiba Gafarova, the Working Group for Azerbaijani-Israeli Interparliamentary Relations, and the Azeri parliament’s Committee on Foreign and Interparliamentary Relations. The Knesset delegation also met with the Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister and Deputy Minister of Economy, as well as with representatives of the Jewish community in Baku and the Red Village.
“The visit of the Israel-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Friendship Groups was held as part of the strategic relations between the countries, and as part of the effort to deepen inter-parliamentary cooperation,” according to a Knesset statement.
The MKs thanked their hosts for supporting Israel and expressed their gratitude for the warm treatment the Azeri Jewish community receives from the local authorities, noting the absence of antisemitism in Azerbaijan throughout history. They also expressed the hope that Speaker Gafarova would visit Israel as a guest of Speaker of the Knesset MK Amir Ohana.
The meetings with the high-ranking Azeri officials also centered on regional issues, mainly the threat from Iran, with which Azerbaijan shares a border.
During the visit, the MKs also toured the Azerbaijan Cyber Security Center, which was established in Baku by the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, and were impressed by the developing cooperation between the countries in various fields.