On November 18, the Azerbaijani Parliament approved the opening of embassies in Israel (Tel Aviv), Albania (Tirana), Kenya (Nairobi), and representative offices in the Palestinian territories (Ramallah).

Among these decisions of the parliament, the approval of the opening of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Israel stands out for its relevance in the social and political environment.

Importantly, Azerbaijan is home to approximately 30,000 Jews who live in Baku and the Red Settlement of Guba District. About 5,000 Ashkenazi Jews live in Baku. The first Jewish Sochnut school in the former Soviet Union was opened in Baku in 1982. According to the information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, 13 documents on cooperation in various fields have been signed between Azerbaijan and Israel so far. Israel buys a large amount of oil and oil products from Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan buys agricultural, military, technical industrial, and information and communication technologies from Israel.

Rasim Musabayov, a member of the working group of the Azerbaijani-Israeli inter-parliamentary relations of the Azerbaijani Parliament, stated that Azerbaijan needed to open an embassy in Israel a long time ago. "For a long time, our relations with Israel have put the opening of an embassy in Israel on the agenda. We have economic circulation, relations with Israel, and institutions related to the military-industrial complex. In other words, there is a fairly large Jewish community in Azerbaijan. At least 100,000 people who are related to Azerbaijan live in Israel. There are daily flights between Israel and Baku. "In such a case, it was important to open the embassy of Azerbaijan in Israel for a long time," the MP noted.

In response to a question about Iran's reaction, he said, "Did Iran get approval from Azerbaijan when it opened a representative office in Gafan [Kapan in Armenian]? Now Iran should go and open a new consulate in Armenia to get rid of Azerbaijan," Musabayov noted.

Israeli Foreign Ministry Applauds

On the same day, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement. It stated that Azerbaijan opening an embassy in Israel is a historic decision.

"Today [November 18, 2022], the Parliament of Azerbaijan adopted a historic decision on opening the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Tel Aviv, Israel. This will be the first embassy of a Muslim country in Israel, where the majority of the population is Shiite," the report added.

In turn, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid welcomed the decision of the Azerbaijani parliament to open an embassy in Israel. "Azerbaijan is an important partner of Israel and is home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the Muslim world. The decision to open an embassy reflects the depth of relations between the countries. This step is the result of the Israeli government's efforts to build strong political bridges with the Muslim world," he noted on Twitter. He thanked the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and congratulated the people of Azerbaijan.

In addition, Israeli ambassador George Deek commented on the decision to open an embassy of Azerbaijan in Israel. George Deek evaluated the decision as an event to be celebrated: "It's time to open this bottle! Today, the Milli Mejlis [Azerbaijani Parliament] adopted the law on opening the Azerbaijan embassy in Israel.

The American Jewish Committee highly appreciated Azerbaijan opening an embassy in Israel

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) praised the decision to open an embassy in the Jewish state of Azerbaijan, a Shiite country.

"Azerbaijan has long been a trendsetter in the relations between Israel and the Muslim world. The opening of the embassy in Israel reflects the close and extensive relations between Azerbaijan and Israel that have lasted for more than three decades," said Ted Deutsch, CEO of AJC. "This is yet another example of the expanding cooperation between Israel and the Muslim world, including the historic 2020 agreement to normalize the Abraham Accords," the AJC added.

AJC noted that Azerbaijan and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1992, and a year later, Israel opened an embassy in Baku. Last year, a representative trade office of Azerbaijan was established in Tel Aviv. Azerbaijan is a strategic partner of Israel and the United States. "AJC, the world's leading Jewish human rights organization, maintains close relations with Azerbaijan through its offices in the USA, Europe, and other countries. AJC delegations visit Baku every year and meet with high-ranking officials of Azerbaijan every fall on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly," the information stated.