Jerusalem | A major supplier of arms to Azerbaijan, Israel finds itself unwillingly plunged into the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, to the point of jeopardizing nascent relations with Armenia. But, if it keeps a low profile, the Jewish state does not seem ready to give up its trade relationship with Baku.
Thursday September 17, 2020, Tel Aviv. In the shadow of the radars and the press, Armenia, a country considered close to Iran – Israel’s declared enemy – inaugurates an embassy. Barely two weeks later, Yerevan recalled its ambassador, a decision Israel said “regrets”.
Reason evoked: Israeli arms sales to Azerbaijan, at a time when Baku and Yerevan clash in Nagorny Karabakh.
The recall came after press reports, which are based on data from the flight tracing site FlightTracker 24, reporting the take-off of a cargo plane from Azerbaijani company Silk Way from Ramon airport near the military base at Ovda in southern Israel.
Beyond this example, Azerbaijan is a known customer of “Made in Israel”.
In 2016, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev claimed that his country had already purchased $ 4.85 billion (€ 4.1 billion) in defense equipment from the Hebrew state.
Oil for weapons
According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), for the past five years, Israel has been the number one supplier of arms to the Shia Muslim country, ahead of Russia, with sales of over $ 740 million (631 million euros).
“Azerbaijan is an important country for us,” confirms Efraim Inbar, president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS).
“We always try to be a good supplier even in times of tension, for example we supplied India during the Kargil war” with Pakistan, he adds.
If it must “honor” its contracts, Israel is however “not directly involved” in the conflict in Karabakh, he said.
The ties between the Hebrew state and Azerbaijan date back to the break-up of the USSR in the early 1990s. The two countries forge diplomatic and trade relations, with Israel seeking to build bridges with Muslim countries and the United States. Azerbaijan to expand its network beyond those in Moscow.
“These are strategic relations: Israel imports a significant part of its oil from Azerbaijan and exports its weapons to Azerbaijan, one of the main clients of the Israeli military industry”, summarizes Gallia Lindenstrauss, analyst at Tel Aviv Institute for Strategic Studies (INSS).
According to the Israeli press, the firm Elbit Systems recently sold armed drones to Azerbaijan.
In echo, Armenian officials accused the Azerbaijani enemy of carrying out strikes against their positions with Israeli drones.
In Jerusalem, Armenian flags appeared this week from windows in the Armenian quarter of the Old City.
Israeli leaders remain silent on the resumption of hostilities in Nagorno Karabakh.
The Turkish “ally”?
In this conflict, Turkey, an ally of Azerbaijan, is also accused by Armenia of providing drones to Baku.
However, that does not make Israel and Turkey allies.
Since the Mavi Marmara incident in 2010, when Israeli forces launched a deadly assault on a Turkish ship attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, bilateral relations have become strained.
Today, Turks and Israelis are opposed on the sharing of gas resources in the Mediterranean, Libya and the Palestinian issue.
“We have seen Turkey increase (its influence) in Libya and this seems to be the manifestation of a more assertive military policy aimed at demonstrating the capabilities of its defense industry,” notes Ms. Lindenstrauss.
According to her, this could be used by Ankara “as a lever for Azerbaijan to reconsider its relationship with Israel”.
At a time of normalization with Arab Gulf countries, oil producers and potential customers of its military technologies, could Israel draw a line on Azerbaijan?
“We are trying to have more agreements (with Muslim countries), not to barter them”, answers Efraim Inbar.