Azerbaijan To Make History With First Embassy in Israel of Shi’ite Muslim State
The Republic of Azerbaijan made history on Friday, with a decision by its parliament to open an embassy in Tel Aviv. The move will make it the first embassy of a country with a majority Shi’ite Muslim population and a Shi’ite government.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid praised the decision by the former Soviet republic, which borders both Russia and Iran.
“I welcome the decision by the National Assembly of Azerbaijan to open an embassy in Israel. Azerbaijan is an important partner of Israel and home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the Muslim world,” Lapid said on Friday.
“The decision to open an embassy reflects the depth of the relationship between the countries. This step is the fruit of the Israeli government’s efforts to build solid diplomatic bridges with the Muslim world.”
Azerbaijan already has a tourism office and a trade representative office in Israel.
Israeli Ambassador to Azerbaijan George Deek tweeted an image of a champagne bottle in front of the flags of the two nations to celebrate the decision.
Time to open that bottle!
Azerbaijan’s Parliament has just passed a law on the opening of an Embassy of Azerbaijan in Israel 🇮🇱🇦🇿 pic.twitter.com/TIZm7jgKJr— George Deek (@GeorgeDeek) November 18, 2022
