ISRAEL-AZERBAIJAN STRATEGIC ALLIANCE IN CARDS?
YNet
June 12 2006
National infrastructure minister hints in speech Israel interested
in strategic cooperation with Muslim country that borders with Iran.
Are Israel and the United States planning a strategic alliance with
Azerbaijan, in a bid to counter the Iranian nuclear threat? Binyamin
Ben-Eliezer, the minister of national infrastructure, has hinted
to the possibility in a recent speech at the Israel Institute of
Petroleum and Energy.
“Azerbaijan is a Muslim country with a large Shiite population that
borders with Iran. We are interested in this small state’s location,”
Ben-Eliezer said.
Azerbaijan has recently become the center for economic cooperation
with Israel. Israeli arms companies equip the Azerbaijani army and
the National Infrastructure Ministry is trying to form collaboration
with Azerbaijan on purchasing oil and natural gas.
Ben-Eliezer visited Azerbaijan’s capital Baku last week, for a trip
that officially focused on contracts for purchasing oil, and perhaps
even natural gas, from Russia via Azerbaijan, through Turkey to Israel.
However, government officials told Ynet that the visit may have
also included an attempt by the Israeli government and its defense
establishment to strengthen ties with Azerbaijan.
The officials stated that Azerbaijan is a poor country in desperate
need of foreign investments, and that it is currently in the midst of
a strategic conflict with its neighbor Armenia. The Muslim country is
also trying to break free from Russia’s bear hug. Diplomatic sources
said that Israel and the US are also interested Azerbaijan due to
its proximity to Iran.
According to government officials, as Turkey refuses to continue
allowing the US to use its air bases for attacks in Iraq (and
will apparently refuse to cooperate with an Iran strike as well),
Azerbaijan’s location plays a key role for the Americans and Israel.
Referring to the Baku visit, Ben Eliezer said: “We achieved important
progress on economic issues and other issues as well. I met with the
Azerbaijan’s president for a meeting that was important for Israel’s
interests.”