This post contains two articles concerning the anticipated visit in early May to Baku by Israel’s Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu. The first article, written by A. Qafarli, was carried on the internet news site, modern.az, on May 2, 2025, in connection with Netanyahu’s expected arrival on May 7. Although that trip did not materialize – the topic of the second article – the article is of interest because of the historical context it gives to Azerbaijan’s relations with Israel.

The second article, written by Fuad Qahramanlı as a post for the newspaper Azadliq (Freedom) on May 5, expresses the opinion that Baku wound up in the middle of a power play for influence between Netanyahu and Turkiye’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with Syria being the eye of the storm.

Notice that both writers refuse to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, implicitly referring to Tel Aviv as the seat of government. It is in Tel Aviv that Azerbaijan opened its embassy.

The Qafarli article begins below [translated from Azeri by LOC]:

Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will be traveling to Azerbaijan on May 7^th. According to information The Times of Israel published referring to the Prime Minister’s office, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Azerbaijan trip will be lasting from May 7 to May 11.

On May 8^th, B. Netanyahu will be meeting with Republic of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev. That same day, he will be getting together with members of the Jewish community.

It is expected that B. Netanyahu will be visiting the grave of National Hero of Azerbaijan, Albert Aqarunov, Jewish by nationality, in Martyrs’ Alley.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s expected trip to Baku confirms yet again that Azerbaijan-Israel contacts are of a strategic character. In the opinion of political experts, in the Eurasian space no country has stronger relations with Israel than Azerbaijan.

Benjamin Netanyahu is the one and only Prime Minister of Israel, after coming into office, to make a trip to Azerbaijan.

According to information of modern.az, the upcoming trip will not be the first time the Israel Prime Minister has come to Azerbaijan.

The first time Benjamin Netanyahu made a trip to Baku was in August 1997 in the evening.

That same road trip is being evaluated as one of the rarest events in the history of Azerbaijan diplomacy. At that time prominent political figure Heydar Aliyev was leading the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Heydar Aliyev received Benjamin Netanyahu at the presidential residence in Zağulba where they engaged in a one-on-one conversation. It was at the Zağulba August 29 meeting that Benjamin Netanyahu proposed to Heydar Aliyev opening an embassy of Azerbaijan in Israel; the national leader’s answer had been as follows:

“…I support your idea concerning the necessity of an Azerbaijan embassy being opened. I hope that this issue will be solved quickly.”

After that trip, relations between Baku and Tel-Aviv began to develop on an upward trajectory.

Israel always openly announces to the world that Tel-Aviv recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. During the conflict [between Azerbaijan and Armenia – LOC], Israel demanded of Armenia that Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity be guaranteed.

Time and again, Israel – both at the Prime Minister level and at the Defense Minister level – has declared that Azerbaijan is a strategic friend. Israel’s 9^th deceased president, Shimon Perez, had made his first historic trip to Azerbaijan in 2009.

The matter that deceased head of state Heydar Aliyev promised to Benjamin Netanyahu finally found its solution on March 29, 2023 – Azerbaijan’s embassy in Israel was opened.

In the picture, from left to right are: President Heydar Aliyev’s translator, Rauf Huseynov; Israel’s ambassador in Baku, Arkady Milman; Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu; his wife, Sarah Netanyahu; and Azerbaijan’s President, Heydar Aliyev.

The Qahramanlı article appears below [translated from Azeri by LOC]:

Why was Netanyahu’s trip to Azerbaijan postponed?

Why is Baku stuck in a position between Israel and Turkiye?

As is known, Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu unexpectedly postponed his 5-day trip to Azerbaijan that had been planned for May 7^th. According to information which The Times of Israel published concerning the goal of the trip, in Azerbaijan Netanyahu was to have discussed that country’s joining the “Abraham Accords” and Baku’s mediation initiative in relations with Turkiye.

At the same time, regional security issues, expanding military cooperation in bilateral relations, and developing contacts in the fields of energy and trade were also to have been discussed.

In information given by Netanyahu’s office as the main reason for the trip’s not happening were the events taking place in the Gaza Strip and in Syria as well as political events’ tight scheduling and security protocols. That’s why these reasons which were given as the reason for the postponement do not appear believable because for Israel these listed issues, whether on the eve of Netanyahu’s planned trip or even before it, have always existed and will also exist even after this.

So then, what could the main reason of this trip’s postponement be? In this regard, according to official information one day after the news was published, at Ilham Aliyev’s behest, while continuing to render humanitarian aid to Syria, an Azerbaijani delegation made a trip to Damascus with the goal to investigate opportunities to support the development in the fields of economy, oil-gas industry, energy, culture, and education.

Deputy Prime Minister Samir Sharifov, who headed the Azerbaijan delegation, conducted multiple meetings with other Syrian officials, above all with the country’s president, Ahmad Al Sharaa.

At the same time, it looks like from these events, occurring in cross-section, that there is a link between the Azerbaijani delegation’s trip to Syria with Netanyahu postponing his trip.

The probability is that Netanyahu, who does not accept the Ahmad Al Sharaa government’s rapprochement with Turkiye, refused to travel to Azerbaijan after receiving information concerning the Azerbaijan delegation’s trip. Because it appears in Israel that they think that this trip had been organized purposefully at Erdoğan’s request exactly on the eve of his trip, Netanyahu refused coming to Azerbaijan. On this occasion, the Israeli Air Force once again striking 12 targets on Syrian territory and dropping bombs in the vicinity of Ahmad Al Sharaa’s residence in Damascus cannot be considered accidental. And by this, Israel was making known its reaction to Turkiye by bombing Syrian territory [in retaliation] for this trip [by Aliyev], which took place at Erdoğan’s initiative, before Netanyahu’s trip.

From Ilham Aliyev’s discussions with Erdoğan and from the last negotiations that were conducted at the Antalya Diplomatic Forum it appears clear that Turkiye is encouraging Azerbaijan developing contacts with Syria. By accepting Ankara’s proposals in this direction, it appears Ilham Aliyev is working to once again kindle relations that have cooled with Erdoğan. Otherwise, if not demanded by Turkiye, Azerbaijan would not want to enter into a geopolitical jungle like Syria and thereby to create a problem in relations with Israel.

Exactly by getting the Azerbaijan delegation to travel to Damascus, Turkiye wanted to demonstrate to Tel Aviv that it carries more influence over Baku. Ilham Aliyev, however, by accepting Erdoğan’s request – who has a hard stance against Israel – and by not refusing his proposal, wanted to balance Netanyahu’s trip and keep warm relations with both sides.

However, it looks like the result was not at all successful and Netanyahu responded to Azerbaijan’s policy to maintain this balance by postponing his trip. And when it comes to Turkiye, by again bombing Syria’s territory, Israel has given its answer to Ankara’s geopolitical oversight over this country and struck a blow at its reputation.