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Become a memberIsraeli Defence Minister Israel Katz met with his Azerbaijani counterpart Zakir Hasanov in Tel Aviv on Monday.
The official readout of the meeting from the Azerbaijani side was scant on details, with the main focus being ‘the high level of Azerbaijani-Israeli relations’ and ‘the prospects for the development of military cooperation’.
In recent years, Israel has emerged as one of Azerbaijan’s primary suppliers of arms.
While there was no official readout from Israel, according to the Jerusalem Post, Katz expressed Israel’s gratitude for Azerbaijan’s support since the 7 October Hamas attack, and its subsequent role as a mediator, particularly involving Turkey.
Katz also thanked Azerbaijan for its awarding of points during the recent Eurovision contest, which he said helped Israeli contestant Yuval Raphael come in second place, adding that it showed ‘a deep connection between average people in both countries’.
The meeting follows reports that Israeli officials had held talks with representatives of the new Syrian government under Ahmed al-Sharaa in Baku on 16 May.
The meeting, which was reportedly the first of its kind since the fall of the stridently anti-Israeli regime of Bashar al-Assad, was revealed by CNN, citing an Israeli source, and was also attended by Turkish officials.
At the same time, a spokesperson for the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) ‘would not confirm or deny that the talks in Azerbaijan took place, but did say that there have not been any direct talks between IDF officials and representatives of the Syrian government’, CNN reported.
If true, the talks would represent the growing diplomatic strength of Azerbaijan as a regional mediator, particularly between Israel and various other countries in the region.
Earlier this year, Azerbaijan helped facilitate talks between Israel and Turkey focused on reducing tensions in Syria.
Aliyev steps in as a mediator between Israel and Turkey as Azerbaijan flexes diplomatic muscles
Azerbaijan has increasingly sought to be viewed as a regional diplomatic player.
Nate Ostiller
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