November 18, 2022 — New York
American Jewish Committee (AJC) praised the Azerbaijan government announcement today that the Shi’ite majority country will open an embassy in the Jewish state.
“Azerbaijan has long been a trendsetter in relations between Israel and the Muslim world. Opening an embassy in Israel reflects close and wide-ranging Azeri-Israeli ties spanning more than three decades,” said AJC CEO Ted Deutch. “It is another example of the expanding cooperation between Israel and the Muslim world, including the historic Abraham Accords normalization agreements of 2020.”
Azerbaijan and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1992, and Israel opened an embassy in Baku a year later. Last year the Azerbaijan Trade Representative Office in Tel Aviv was established. Azerbaijan is a strategic partner for Israel and the U.S.
AJC, the leading global Jewish advocacy organization, maintains close contact with Azerbaijan through its offices across the U.S., Europe, and other locations. AJC delegations have visited Baku annually and met with senior Azerbaijani officials on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly every fall.
“AJC may well have been the pioneers in creating ties to Azerbaijan,” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu told the 2019 AJC Global Forum. He praised “AJC for the work that you did, making a lot of connections that we needed when we didn’t have the kind of open channels that we have today.”
