Azerbaijan belongs in the Abraham Accords - this is why - Michael Jankelowitz

 

by Michael Jankelowitz

Aliyev’s public praise of Trump is not just rhetoric. It reflects decades of quiet strategic ties with Israel and a rare opportunity to expand the Abraham Accords eastward.

 

Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, seen at Al Shati Palace in Abu Dhabi during a visit to the United Arab Emirates, July 9, 2025

(photo credit: RYAN CARTER/UAE Presidential Court/Handout via REUTERS)

 

When US President Donald Trump posted a clip from Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev’s Shusha Global Media Forum speech on Truth Social he was not just boosting a friendly quote. He was signaling that Azerbaijan’s long partnership with Israel and Washington is now on his radar in a public way.

In that video, Aliyev calls Trump a leader who ends wars says they share core values including family values and wishes him success especially when draining the swamp. Trump rarely shares videos of foreign leaders so the post stands out and shows that people around him increasingly view Baku as central to the region’s next phase.

For more than three decades Israel and Azerbaijan have worked together on strategic issues. Shifts in Middle East politics and Israeli Palestinian flare ups have not derailed the relationship.

Aliyev has balanced ties with Ankara and Jerusalem and Azerbaijan has hosted more than three rounds of talks between Turkey and Israel on Syria to cool tensions. That steadiness makes Azerbaijan a natural fit for the Abraham Accords.

Washington DC, USA - September 15, 2020: Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, and Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan attend the Abraham Accords ceremony in The White House. (credit: SHUTTERSTOCK)

Azerbaijan in Abraham Accords: A signal to Muslim majority states

Joseph Epstein of the Turan Research Center at the Yorktown Institute argues that bringing Azerbaijan into the Accords would signal to Muslim majority states in Central Asia such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan that open cooperation with Israel is both possible and worthwhile. It would also squeeze Tehran which sees a secular Shia state aligned with Israel and Turkey as a strategic problem.

Epstein also cautions against tying Azerbaijan’s entry to unrelated conditions like a peace deal with Armenia because that would undercut the spirit of the Accords and risk a fragile process in the South Caucasus. The Accords were built to unite Muslim countries that choose tolerance and reject extremism. Armenia is not part of that track and forcing it in would be counterproductive.

Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the rabbi who blessed Trump at his 2017 inauguration, shares that view. Separate tracks should stay separate. Azerbaijan has proved its friendship to the Jewish people in words and deeds. Aliyev has said many times that respect for Jews is part of Azerbaijan’s identity and his policies have backed that for decades. Hier urged Trump to recognize that record without conditions calling Azerbaijan a genuine ally and a bridge between East and West and asking him to take a bold step and bring Baku into the Accords as recognition of what already exists.

This is an opportunity. Adding Azerbaijan would deepen the Accords architecture of pragmatism strengthen Israel’s regional position and show that cooperation between Muslim and Jewish nations is already real. The task now is to formalize it amplify it and avoid side deals that dilute the spirit or the success of the Accords.

Michael Jankelowitz is a Jerusalem-based commentator on World Jewish Affairs. He previously served as spokesperson to the International Media at the Jewish Agency for Israel.

Source: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-862347

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