Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday in Baku to discuss ways to deepen the “strategic relationship” between Israel and Azerbaijan despite regional tensions.
During the meeting, Herzog congratulated Azerbaijan on its chairmanship of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA). The Israeli president will address the summit on Thursday.
“The two presidents discussed ways to deepen the strategic relationship between Israel and Azerbaijan, which is rooted in mutual respect, shared interests, and the deep historical ties between the two peoples,” Herzog’s office said in a statement.
The two also exchanged views on regional and international developments, it added.
Azerbaijan’s ties with Israel have deepened significantly in recent years, driven by military, energy, and geopolitical interests.
Israel has become Azerbaijan’s most important military supplier, providing drones, missiles, and advanced weapons systems.
More than 70% of Azerbaijan's arms imports come from Israel. Israeli-made systems were widely used in the 2020 and 2023 Nagorno-Karabakh wars against Armenia.
In October 2026, Azerbaijan inaugurated a joint venture with Israeli weapons manufacturer Ari Arms to produce AR-15/M4-style rifles domestically.
Just days ago, reports emerged that Azerbaijan’s special forces had adopted Israeli Hero-120 loitering munitions.
Israel imports roughly 40% of its oil from Azerbaijan, shipped via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. In 2024 alone, Azerbaijan supplied Israel with over $700 million in crude oil.
Iran views this emerging partnership with alarm, as Azerbaijan has effectively offered Israel a strategic foothold on Iran’s northern border.
The Israeli regime reportedly used the Sitalchay airbase in Azerbaijan for surveillance operations against Iran as early as 2012.
The 2009 WikiLeaks cables revealed Aliyev describing the relationship with Israel as an “iceberg”, most of it hidden beneath the surface.
Iran has issued explicit warnings to Baku over its deepening partnership with Israel.
“We declare to Azerbaijan, as a Muslim country, that in order to prevent the spread of insecurity in the region, expel the Zionists from that country and do not endanger the security of your own people and Islamic Iran,” a spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Command said in March.
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