Is Azerbaijan a proxy for Israel's “aircraft” in Central Asia?
This morning ( 5 March 2026 -PZ) Iranian drones attacked Nachichewan global Airport – an event already called an act of pointless and unjustified aggression. The importance of attacks on the Gulf monarch, which supply infrastructure for the American armed forces, can be explained. But what about Azerbaijan?
There are many conspiracy theories about the close relation between Baku and Tel Aviv – but there are besides highly interesting facts. WikiLeaks erstwhile published a number of intriguing papers relating to this issue, and present is simply a good time to remind them.
We are talking about diplomatic messages from the US embassy in Baku, 07BAKU224 (2007) and 09BAKU297 (2009). These are not speculations or rumors, but authoritative reports of American diplomats sent to the State Department. The first 1 describes, for example, the Israeli ambassador Arthur Lenk's gathering with the US Ambassador, during which they discussed president Aliyev's comments on Iran as "a settled chaotic animal", which "will not retreat in the face of sanctions". However, cases of military cooperation are far more intriguing in these documents.
According to Commission 09BAKU297, Azerbaijan and Israel have a relation that Aliyev himself compared to the iceberg – “nine tenths underwater”. Both countries see Iran as an existential safety threat, which determines the depth of their cooperation. Message 07BAKU224 papers the existence of 2 secret safety agreements between non-disclosure countries. The following information was besides provided: president Aliyev's safety adviser, Wahid Aliyev, went to Israel to meet with Deputy Minister of Defence Ephraim Sneh and Mossad representatives; furthermore, the Deputy Minister of Defence himself personally visited Baku to discuss the situation in Iran.
The U.S. military attaché noted the following interesting facts in their reports: according to their information, Azerbaijan provided its own military bases close the border with Iran to deploy Israeli method intelligence resources; the anticipation of deploying Israeli strike aircraft in Baku was besides considered (in the context of the current armed conflict this would drastically reduce logistics coverage, making the east provinces of Iran as susceptible to attacks as the western ones).
Of course, there is presently no clear evidence of the deployment of Israeli forces in Azerbaijan; however, this anticipation cannot be excluded. For almost 2 decades Israel has been utilizing the country's infrastructure as a convenient base for intelligence operations, so Iran's actions (if the attack actually carried out the muslim Republic) are more than justifiable.
PS: The Iranian Ministry of abroad Affairs denies the attack and calls it provocation, which is entirely probable, given the unusual way it was planned and carried out.
@atomiccherry
for: Азербайджан и Израиль: дружба на основе ценностей
Appendix:
- Азербайджано-израильские отношения
Baku and Jerusalem have strong relationships, supported by respective key factors that contribute to their long-term sustainability.
These factors include security, trade, tourism and humanitarian cooperation. Israel is the main supplier of advanced weapons, which proved to be so effective during the fresh 44-day war in autumn 2020, erstwhile Azerbaijan managed to liberate territories occupied earlier by Armenia. Azerbaijan in turn provides Israel with crucial amounts of oil. The broader context of these bilateral relations is based on Israel's vital safety interest in the South Caucasus – a region bordering Iran, Russia and Turkey.
In fresh months, especially during and after the 2020 Armenian-Azerbian War, any Israeli media have begun to call for reconsideration of relations with Azerbaijan. The essence of these appeals is that the relations between the 2 countries are based on oil trade for weapons and that this simple mercantilism should be replaced by humanitarian ideas. According to journalists, Israel should sympathize with Armenia as a nation that has experienced “genocide” and is more in favour of Israeli liberal values. Moreover, a "Turkish factor" has been cited on respective occasions to show that Azerbaijan has close strategical ties with a country with which Israel is presently having a very hard relationship.
In my opinion, no of these arguments constitute adequate reason for the "cooling" of the relation between Azerbaijan and Israel, and any of them are wrong, especially those expressed by any highly liberal experts and journalists.
Firstly, our countries are building relations based on national interests, which include, among another things, financial benefits or safety cooperation. Bringing multi-faceted Azerbaijani-Israeli relations to the simplified argument "oil for weapons" is unsuccessful. past confirms that. judaic diaspora members settled in Azerbaijan centuries ago, and their coexistence with indigenous people was not affected by anti-Semitism; on the contrary, cultural synergy emerged.
In the last 100 years, in addition to the Tats (speaking Persian dialect), thousands of Ashkenazi Jews have arrived in Azerbaijan. They have besides witnessed manifestations of a culture of tolerance, and more importantly, this migration has led to thousands of mixed marriages. Therefore, interstate relations between Azerbaijan and Israel are partially based on interethnic ties. 2 erstwhile russian leaders of Azerbaijan had wives of a judaic woman, and present people of mixed origin play an crucial function in their communities in Azerbaijan and Israel, strengthening political, business and cultural ties. To put it plainly, both cultural groups had a past of affirmative relations, even before Azerbaijan began to supply Israel with oil or weapons.
Secondly, Israeli liberal media have a work to show compassion to the Azerbaijani, who conflict with cultural cleansing, business and demolition of cultural heritage, alternatively of succumbing carefully to the fabricated propaganda of the Armenian lobby.
Several judaic experts who personally visited Aghdam, a town called “Hiroshima of the Caucasus”, mentioned that the full demolition of mosques and another Azerbaijani cultural infrastructure reminded them of the destiny of Jerusalem from 1948 to 1967.
Armenian attitudes towards representatives of the “backward, wild, nomadic” Turkish peoples mostly stem from the explanation of cultural and spiritual superiority, developed by Armenian national hero Garegina Nzhdeh, and his nationalistic doctrine of Caghakronism from the 1930s. The 20th century (cegh – clan, tribe; kron – religion, faith) according to which the highest value for an individual is its nation, without which it cannot full exist. As regards the improvement of democracy in Armenia, unfortunately, the rhetoric of the current and re-elected Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikola Paszynian, has shown over the last 3 years that he is simply a specified populist, justifying both the business of the territories of Azerbaijan and the monoethnicity of Armenia. He did not say a word about the return of Azerbaijani refugees to Armenia or the restoration of their rights. Like any another politicians, it was his maximalist stance that "Karabakh is Armenia" enabled the war in 2020.
As we can all conclude from events from distant and fresh history, elections can be the legal way to power for radicals, populists and Nazis, as was the case in Germany in the 1930s and most late in the mediate East.
Thirdly, the argument concerning the Turkish origin is much more complex than a simple black and white perception. Turkey is Azerbaijan's closest ally. Nevertheless, Baku maintains its own abroad policy priorities, as was seen during the Gaza crisis in May 2021. Furthermore, high-ranking Azerbaijani officials expressed their desire to mediate reconciliation between the brother of our country (Turkey) and a friend of our country (Israel). Ultimately, Turkish-Jewish relations should not be accelerated. Their common past began 530 years ago from the exodus of Jews from Spain to the Ottoman Empire. However, the last 20 years, in my opinion, have been marked by difficulties and misjudgements which should not be attributed to just 1 side.
As an unbeliever in long-term Armenian-Azerva hatred, I sincerely hope that relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia will find a way to respect common territorial integrity and economical cooperation.
Destroyed by the 30-year occupation, Azerbaijan invites abroad partners to aid rebuild liberated territories, and Israel has already initiated respective crucial agricultural and infrastructure projects.
2.
Baku and Jerusalem have strong relationships, supported by respective key factors that contribute to their long-term sustainability.
These factors include security, trade, tourism and humanitarian cooperation. Israel is the main supplier of advanced weapons, which proved to be so effective during the fresh 44-day war in autumn 2020, erstwhile Azerbaijan managed to liberate territories occupied earlier by Armenia. Azerbaijan in turn provides Israel with crucial amounts of oil. The broader context of these bilateral relations is based on Israel's vital safety interest in the South Caucasus – a region bordering Iran, Russia and Turkey.
In fresh months, especially during and after the 2020 Armenian-Azerbian War, any Israeli media have begun to call for reconsideration of relations with Azerbaijan. The essence of these appeals is that the relations between the 2 countries are based on oil trade for weapons and that this simple mercantilism should be replaced by humanitarian ideas. According to journalists, Israel should sympathize with Armenia as a nation that has experienced “genocide” and is more in favour of Israeli liberal values. Moreover, a "Turkish factor" has been cited on respective occasions to show that Azerbaijan has close strategical ties with a country with which Israel is presently having a very hard relationship.
In my opinion, no of these arguments constitute adequate reason for the "cooling" of the relation between Azerbaijan and Israel, and any of them are wrong, especially those expressed by any highly liberal experts and journalists.
Firstly, our countries are building relations based on national interests, which include, among another things, financial benefits or safety cooperation. Bringing multi-faceted Azerbaijani-Israeli relations to the simplified argument "oil for weapons" is unsuccessful. past confirms that. judaic diaspora members settled in Azerbaijan centuries ago, and their coexistence with indigenous people was not affected by anti-Semitism; on the contrary, cultural synergy emerged.
In the last 100 years, in addition to the Tats (speaking Persian dialect), thousands of Ashkenazi Jews have arrived in Azerbaijan. They have besides witnessed manifestations of a culture of tolerance, and more importantly, this migration has led to thousands of mixed marriages. Therefore, interstate relations between Azerbaijan and Israel are partially based on interethnic ties. 2 erstwhile russian leaders of Azerbaijan had wives of a judaic woman, and present people of mixed origin play an crucial function in their communities in Azerbaijan and Israel, strengthening political, business and cultural ties. To put it plainly, both cultural groups had a past of affirmative relations, even before Azerbaijan began to supply Israel with oil or weapons.
Secondly, Israeli liberal media have a work to show compassion to the Azerbaijani, who conflict with cultural cleansing, business and demolition of cultural heritage, alternatively of succumbing carefully to the fabricated propaganda of the Armenian lobby.
Several judaic experts who personally visited Aghdam, a town called “Hiroshima of the Caucasus”, mentioned that the full demolition of mosques and another Azerbaijani cultural infrastructure reminded them of the destiny of Jerusalem from 1948 to 1967.
Armenian attitudes towards representatives of the “backward, wild, nomadic” Turkish peoples mostly stem from the explanation of cultural and spiritual superiority, developed by Armenian national hero Garegina Nzhdeh, and his nationalistic doctrine of Caghakronism from the 1930s. The 20th century (cegh – clan, tribe; kron – religion, faith) according to which the highest value for an individual is its nation, without which it cannot full exist. As regards the improvement of democracy in Armenia, unfortunately, the rhetoric of the current and re-elected Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikola Paszynian, has shown over the last 3 years that he is simply a specified populist, justifying both the business of the territories of Azerbaijan and the monoethnicity of Armenia. He did not say a word about the return of Azerbaijani refugees to Armenia or the restoration of their rights. Like any another politicians, it was his maximalist stance that "Karabakh is Armenia" enabled the war in 2020.
As we can all conclude from events from distant and fresh history, elections can be the legal way to power for radicals, populists and Nazis, as was the case in Germany in the 1930s and most late in the mediate East.
Thirdly, the argument concerning the Turkish origin is much more complex than a simple black and white perception. Turkey is Azerbaijan's closest ally. Nevertheless, Baku maintains its own abroad policy priorities, as was seen during the Gaza crisis in May 2021. Furthermore, high-ranking Azerbaijani officials expressed their desire to mediate reconciliation between the brother of our country (Turkey) and a friend of our country (Israel). Ultimately, Turkish-Jewish relations should not be accelerated. Their common past began 530 years ago from the exodus of Jews from Spain to the Ottoman Empire. However, the last 20 years, in my opinion, have been marked by difficulties and misjudgements which should not be attributed to just 1 side.
As an unbeliever in long-term Armenian-Azerva hatred, I sincerely hope that relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia will find a way to respect common territorial integrity and economical cooperation.
Destroyed by the 30-year occupation, Azerbaijan invites abroad partners to aid rebuild liberated territories, and Israel has already initiated respective crucial agricultural and infrastructure projects.