Thirty members of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, and several government ministers from all Israeli factions have sent a congratulatory letter to Sahiba Gafarova, Speaker of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan to congratulate the recent decision by the Azeri National Assembly to open an Azerbaijani embassy in Israel.
The congratulatory letter comes at a time when Azerbaijani government operatives, disguised as supposed eco-activists, have been blocking the single road between Artsakh and the outside world for over 3 weeks causing a grave humanitarian crisis.
Last week, Israel also hosted Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Fariz Rzayev’s to promote the decision to open his country’s embassy in Israel.
The Knesset members also expressed bewilderment at the French Senate’s call to impose sanctions against Azerbaijan and promote an embargo on the purchase of gas and oil from it by the European Union, in response to Azerbaijan’s blockade of Artsakh.
The Jerusalem post reported that according to the Knesset members, this decision plays into the hands of Iran, which is interested in weakening Azerbaijan, which today is a symbol of a of so-called “progressive country” with a Muslim-Shiite population that maintains “close ties with Israel and the Western world.” They expressed hope that they would reconsider their decision.
In addition to being one of the largest purchasers of Azerbaijani energy, Israel has provided Azerbaijan with large amounts of military drones, such as loitering munitions and ‘kamikaze’ drones, that were used against Armenia and Artsakh in the 2020 war. Hikmet Hajiyev, a top foreign policy adviser to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan has praised the Israeli drones as being “very effective” in fighting with Armenia.
