Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met with Jonathan Missner, co-founder and member of the Board of Advisors of the Israel Economic Forum (IEF), on Monday.
This invitation-only organization allows membership based on specific criteria, including leadership roles and business achievements. The IEF is closely working with US-based Jewish and pro-Israel organizations to bolster support for Israel’s economic initiatives. Missner is managing partner of Stein Mitchell Beato & Missner LLP, a prominent law firm based in Washington, DC. Among the members of the board of advisors of IEF are Michael Oren, former Israel’s ambassador to the United States, and Professor Eugene Kandel, chairman of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange board.
On January 24, Azerbaijan’s Innovation and Digital Development Agency and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a Center of Excellence aimed at bolstering innovation within Azerbaijan. Israel’s largest aerospace and defense company, as well as its top industrial exporter, the IAI will assist Azerbaijan to implement programs focused on human capital development, as well as initiatives designed to explore best practices in various technological fields. Four months ago the IAI launched its first innovation center in the United States.
On January 21, a day after Trump’s inauguration, the presidents of Israel and Azerbaijan met in Davos. President Isaac Herzog arranged the meeting to discuss several issues with Azerbaijani President Aliyev, with whom he has long-established friendly relations. According to the official summaries of the meeting, the sides discussed economic and trade collaboration, commending the work of the joint intergovernmental commission.
These events did not escape the attention of several US analysts, who started to reevaluate Azerbaijan’s importance not only as Israel’s “pillar of regional security system,” as a recent Begin-Sadat Center research paper called it. “Given America’s strong relations with Jerusalem and Baku’s increasing regional heft, it makes immense sense for Washington to support this stable partnership and develop ongoing cooperation involving both countries to help stabilize the Middle East and the Caucasus,” noted Dr. Stephen J. Blank, one of the leading American specialists on Soviet/Russian, Asian, and European military and foreign policies.
He points out that the foundation of the Israeli-Azerbaijani relationship lies in their shared threat of the militant Iranian theocracy. “In light of Iran’s attempts to undermine and destroy both Israel and Azerbaijan through economic, military, and terrorist means while pursuing its nuclear ambitions, it is no surprise that both capitals have come together. On this foundation, the two states have built a growing and stable framework of relations that can, in the future, serve their interests and those of the US.”
Forbes expert Wesley Hill emphasized: “The US must leverage other relationships within the Middle East to secure stable energy supply chains.” Ensuring continued American support for both Azerbaijan and Israel is in America’s interests, he said. To Hill’s mind, recognizing Baku’s efforts in the region and long-time friendship with Israel, the Trump administration should involve it in the Abraham Accords. “Only through geopolitical engagement with American partners in key regions such as the Middle East, the Caucasus, and the Caspian, specifically Israel and Azerbaijan, can President Trump realize his energy ambitions.”
Skyrocketing cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel troubles Tehran.
Last week, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Jafar Aghaei Maryan, the chargé d’affaires at Iran’s Embassy in Baku, to lodge a protest over anti-Azerbaijan content in Iranian media. Azerbaijani officials raised objections over what they described as a systematic campaign by Iranian pro-governmental and state media outlets to discredit Azerbaijan. The controversy follows reports that Azerbaijan expelled or banned 16 Iranian female students, accusing them of being recruited by Iranian special services for subversive activities. Iranian state media condemned the expulsions as being aligned with “Israel’s policies.”
Avi Monakov
