Israel’s role in the Second Armenia-Azerbaijan War

Excerpt

The Republic of Azerbaijan and the State of Israel have enjoyed extensive ties and cooperation since the restoration of Azerbaijan’s independence in 1991 and strategic cooperation since the mid-1990s. This partnership played a role in Azerbaijan’s success in the 2020 Second Armenia-Azerbaijan War.

This chapter will discuss Israel’s role in the 2020 war and the resulting strategic implications. The cooperation between Israel and Azerbaijan in the military sphere extends beyond arms sales. Rather, Israeli security and military cooperation has played a significant role in the building of Azerbaijan’s military capabilities and the establishment in Azerbaijan of a home-grown defense industry. Israeli specialists have also engaged in the training of Azerbaijani military experts on the operation of various armaments, the development of organizational methods and formulation of military doctrine. In the 2020 war, Azerbaijan demonstrated an innovative use of Israeli arms and the integration of Turkish and Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as well as a novel use of UAVs, which included carrying out multiple tasks and their integration with other armaments in the battlefield. Military planners and strategists worldwide continue to study this integration as well as the war in general, which has been viewed as an important case study in modern warfare. In addition, the success of the Turkish and Israeli armaments and their battlefield integration in the 2020 Armenia-Azerbaijan War has led to increased commercial interest globally in both the Turkish and Israeli defense industries. The war also set the stage for important political developments, including a potential return to friendlier political relations between Turkey and Israel, given the two countries support of Azerbaijan. Moreover, Israel’s cooperation with Azerbaijan has endowed it with “soft power” among ethnic Azerbaijanis in Iran, who form a third of the Islamic Republic’s population. Many ethnic Azerbaijanis in Iran expressed support for Azerbaijan during the war and thus appreciated Israel’s contribution to Azerbaijan’s war effort.

Major milestones in Azerbaijan-Israel relations

The State of Israel was one of the first countries to recognize (December 25, 1991) Azerbaijan’s independence. Diplomatic relations were established between Israel and the Republic of Azerbaijan on April 7, 1992, and Israel established a permanent embassy in Baku on August 29, 1993. Azerbaijan has not reciprocated by opening an embassy in Israel, out of concern of losing support from the Arab and Muslim bloc in UN resolutions related to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. However, in the wake of the 2020 war it is likely that Azerbaijan will open a full embassy in Israel. The restoration of Azerbaijani control over its territories in the 2020 war has rendered Baku less dependent on the Arab bloc at the United Nations. In addition, the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab and Muslimmajority states during 2020-21 as part of the Abraham Accord process and their subsequent opening of embassies has clearly lowered the potential ramifications for Baku in opening an embassy in Israel. In July 2021, Azerbaijan opened tourism and trade missions in Israel. The Azerbaijani representatives at these missions have diplomatic status. Further diplomatic openings between Azerbaijan and Israel are likely.¹

1. “Azerbaijan seeks to expand bilateral trade with Israel”, Israel Hayom reprinted in JNS April 22, 2021. Accessed at: https://www.jns.org/azerbaijan-seeks-to-expand-bilateral-trade-with-israel/