In a fast-changing region, the Azerbaijani-Israeli relationship has proved durable and useful to US interests.

The threat of regional chaos in the Middle East and Central Asia is at an all-time high, especially with Iran looking increasingly fragile from the inside. If Iran were to buckle, the fallout wouldn’t stop at its borders—it would tear through Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, creating a massive power vacuum.

The United States must have solid, reliable partners to act as stabilizers in this environment. Azerbaijan and Israel’s partnership is a perfect example of this kind of strategic anchor. Critics, however, tend to ignore or dismiss it because they are focused on their own political agendas. However, it is critical to stop undervaluing alliances that work.

A few months ago, President Donald Trump brought together heads of state from the Middle East, Europe, and the Caucasus in a historic effort to advance peace in the Middle East. Two of the heads of state present that day—Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s President Nikol Pashinyan—had convened in the Oval Office with President Trump only two months earlier and signed another historic accord for peace that included the declaration of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity. This new trade route will open business and trade opportunities for American businesses while promoting vital trade relations worldwide. 

With the US administration working so hard to promote peace and prosperity for America and its allies and partners in a world that has seen far too much war and volatility, stability is paramount. This is why the longstanding strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Israel is not only crucial for both those countries but also serves US interests. This is an alliance rooted in shared security and anti-terrorism priorities, mutual cultural respect, a shared Iranian adversarial extremist threat, and a pragmatic approach to energy and defense. It is a steady anchor in a region still threatened with terrorism, radicalism, and political uncertainty.

Critics, however, often attack not only this alliance but also the extensive work that the Trump administration has done to bring peace to Azerbaijan and Armenia and to the Middle East with cynical, misleading claims. For example, Alex Galitsky, policy director for the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), teamed up with a past president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (which anyone—scholar or not—can pay to join) to claim, “Azerbaijan’s war in Nagorno-Karabakh served as a testing ground for the weapons, tactics, and methods that Israel later deployed against Gaza’s Palestinians.” This framing confuses two very different conflicts for purely political purposes while misrepresenting both.

The context of the Azerbaijan-Israel alliance is frequently distorted. Having been a security partner for Azerbaijan since 1995, Israel did indeed supply a significant portion of Azerbaijan’s arms imports from 2016 to 2020. Every sovereign nation has the right to modernize its military and defend itself. Moreover, Azerbaijan was facing a situation where it not only had over 20 percent of its internationally recognized land occupied for some three decades, but also faced aggression from its next-door neighbor, Iran.

Defense cooperation between Baku and Jerusalem is not an experiment or an exercise in needless cruelty. It is an innovative, logical partnership between two nations determined to maintain their technological edge in a dangerous world. Moreover, both Azerbaijan and Armenia are moving toward peace with help from the United States, while the disarmament of the Hamas terrorists in Gaza is still being worked on. It is time these meaningful opportunities were recognized and encouraged rather than denigrated. Lives on all sides are at stake.

Beyond security, Azeri-Israeli energy relations are crucial to the global energy market, not only for Israel. Around 40 percent of Israel’s oil imports come from Azerbaijan.

Baku’s State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) is also entering the Mediterranean offshore gas exploration market, balancing Israel, Syria, and Turkey, and promoting stability in the volatile region.

With supply chains all over the place, Azerbaijan has turned into a crucial safety net for both Israel and Europe. Azerbaijan is secular, predictable, and a reliable place to do business. Since their oil bypasses the usual Middle Eastern flashpoints, they give the West a way to sidestep hostile suppliers without worrying about the lights going out.

Critics miss the point that this isn’t just some cold, transactional oil deal. Azerbaijan is one of the few Shia-majority countries where Jewish communities have survived and thrived for centuries. Most other parts of the world do not have that kind of genuine religious harmony. It’s not just a modern political calculation. It is a byproduct of a culture that has valued religious harmony long before it became a talking point.

In sharp contrast to the seething displays of “Death to Israel and America” hatred that Iran’s mullahs regularly stage on the streets of Tehran, Azerbaijan demonstrates that a modern, Muslim-majority nation can serve as a reliable, secular ally. This connection is the foundation of the partnership. Alliances are more resilient than purely transactional relationships based on just energy or weapons.

Linking the Karabakh conflict to the Gaza conflict is a cynical political stunt intended to gain international sympathy.

Azerbaijan’s goal in 2020 was to restore its sovereign territory within the internationally recognized borders established when it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Western policymakers should acknowledge this comparison of what it is: a deliberate political ploy meant to inject partisan drama into a vital strategic alliance.

Not only should the United States support Israeli-Azeri cooperation, but any roadblocks towards engaging with either party should be deconstructed so the United States can exercise a robust foreign policy. Section 907 of the 1992 FREEDOM Support Act, for example, heavily constrains US assistance towards Azerbaijan. It is a relic of the past that endures largely due to ill-conceived efforts to maintain pressure on Baku. While it has been waived by one American administration after another for over 20 years now, it is an example of numerous legislative hurdles that undermine American power.

In addition to providing essential energy security, the Azerbaijan-Israel partnership bolsters regional stability and demonstrates pragmatic cooperation across religious divides. The United States and Brussels need to recognize this alliance as a vital pillar for growth, prosperity, and economic resilience.

About the Author: Hollie McKay

Hollie McKay is a war correspondent and foreign policy analyst who has spent two decades reporting from conflict zones. She currently serves as research director for GlobalStrat, a geopolitical risk and intelligence firm. She is the author of Only Cry for the Living: Memos from Inside the ISIS Battlefield and Afghanistan: The End of the US Footprint and the Rise of the Taliban Rule.

Image: Joey Sussman / Shutterstock.com.

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