A Quite Alliance: Israel and Azerbaijan

In 2020, the Nagorno-Karabakh war had reached its most intense phase. Azerbaijani troops had finally taken over the territory long desiring to connect with its neighboring Armenia.

Before the conflict could spill further into the Armenian mainland, Russia and Turkey leaped to arrange a ceasefire.

People are not used to hearing of the wars emerging in Central Asia or the Caucasian region. To many, it doesn’t have conflicts raging to the extent we’re seeing now in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It was unusual to see a major conflict escalating in the Caucasian region. But there is one more unusual happening.

Azerbaijani cargo planes were observed bringing in arms and ammunition. They had been loaded into a mysterious country. What country was it?

Was it the UAE? Turkey? Saudi Arabia? No one knew.

And when the news finally broke out, many were surprised upon hearing the country’s name. It was Israel.

Throughout the world Azerbaijan is known for its Caucasus region, its beef with Armenia, it’s rapidly transforming tourism industry, and now, for its friendship with Israel.

For years, Israel has been a key provider of high-tech arms and weapons to Azerbaijan. According to the reports, more than 60% of Azerbaijani weapons come from Israel. It is Israel’s weapons that helped Azerbaijan secure a victory in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. And it is due to these Israeli weapons that have made the Azeri country into a transforming regional player.

What Motive Does Israel Have in Supplying Arms to Azerbaijan?

It is unlikely for the Jewish state to sympathize with its Muslim counterpart, especially to the extent of providing it with its high-tech weapons. Israel has a very strict policy when it comes to providing homemade weapons to foreign countries. The rules limit Israel from selling its arms to any country except for a few. We can see now that Azerbaijan has its name on that list.

But what’s in it for Israel? According to the experts, it’s Azeri oil and its geographical position. According to Worldometer, Azerbaijan is the 24th largest oil-producing nation in the world. That’s not the most, but also not the least. Israel imports Azeri oil at good rates. More than half of Israel’s oil comes from Azerbaijan.

The second benefit is its geostrategic location in the Azeri country. Azerbaijan shares a 689 km border with Iran, Israel’s arch-nemesis. Experts have argued that Azerbaijan acts as Israel’s secret proxy that keeps an eye on Iran although there’s no proof.
Iran itself has had no healthy relations with its Azeri neighbors. Iranian leaders have supported Armenia earlier while its leaders have on multiple occasions supported militias within the Azeri country. Hence an enemy of an enemy is a friend.

We observe from Azerbaijan’s point of view and identify 2 key benefits.

Firstly, Azerbaijan’s rich oil has a strong customer to sell to (Currently being its 3rd largest export partner according to Trendeconomy).

2nd is the country’s ability to brandish its newly imported weapons to its hostile neighbors. Throughout the years, Azeri leadership has been explicit in making them a dominant player in the Caucasus and Central Asian region. It wants to be the country no one wants to tangle up in conflict with.

With the newly imported Israeli weapons, the Caucasus country can finally achieve its objective.

The recent news covered Azerbaijan handing over its old fleet of t-72 tanks to Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms firm to modify it. It’s a part of the country’s defense strategy which involves massive collaboration with Israeli weapon manufacturers.

Israel construction firms have also been the first to establish infrastructure projects in the newly conquered Nagorno Karabakh region.

As the current geopolitical scenarios around the globe descend into uncertainty, we see unimagined alliances emerge from the shadows like this one.