Baku beats even Washington among Russian-speaking Jews

An opinion poll among immigrants from the former Soviet Union ranked Azerbaijan as the country closest to Israel and Aliyev second only to Trump among the world's most friendly leaders. A bond cemented by many factors, including historical reasons but also today's commercial agreements on energy and military cooperation.

Baku (Asianews) - The website Newsru.co.il conducted an analysis of the opinion of Russian-speaking Israeli citizens, a significant minority in Israel, very active in the political and information sphere. Sixty-three per cent of respondents profess to be ‘right-wing conservatives’ and 89% say they are ‘convinced patriots of Israel’, all very attentive to international news, events in the region and statements by world leaders. Precisely for this reason, their answers on which countries are Israel's ‘friendly countries’ and partners are particularly significant.

When asked which countries are closest to Israel, Russian-speaking citizens ranked Azerbaijan first, with 55% of responses, surpassing even the United States at 52%. They are followed by Germany, Argentina and the Czech Republic. Therefore, Baku is not only considered an important regional partner, but also a country that maintains and develops effective and consistent relations with Israel.

This assessment concerns Azerbaijan's important role in energy security issues, but also its military cooperation and its attitude of great respect towards the entire Jewish community, both in the past and in the present.

Even in the rankings of world leaders closest to Israel, after Donald Trump's clear lead with 77%, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev follows with 49%, surpassing German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the heads of government and presidents of many other countries, certainly much more influential than Azerbaijan on the international stage.

For Israeli political sociology, these results are extremely significant, considering that the large Russian-speaking minority considers Aliyev to be a leader who is very consistent in his cooperation with the Jewish state, expressing a stable and predictable foreign policy position, demonstrating great esteem for Israel and genuine concern for its security. Considering the fluctuations of the energy market in times of war and sanctions, a gas and oil supplier such as Azerbaijan takes on a prominent value.

There are several factors that give Azerbaijan such a positive and decisive assessment, starting with the real dimensions of partnership in transport, energy and security. The historical model of coexistence and friendly relations between Jews and Azerbaijanis, a population with an absolute Muslim majority, 80% of whom are followers of a moderate variant of Shiite Islam, with a Sunni minority of 13%, is a significant factor, well known to Russian-speaking Israelis. Israel is the country with the largest permanent Russian population outside the Russian Federation itself, and certainly the most Russian-speaking outside the former Soviet space.

Azerbaijan's stable position in international structures is also important, with delegates from Baku expressing friendly and supportive positions towards Israel on every occasion. Azerbaijan also offers considerable openness in terms of information, having no opposition to limit and repress internally, and this encourages the attention and sympathy of Russians abroad, especially in Israel.

Cooperation between Baku and Jerusalem therefore has solid and deep foundations, and the level of mutual trust is much higher than is normally considered in traditional diplomatic circles. Azerbaijan is considered by many commentators to be the most realistic candidate for accession to the Abraham Accords in the medium term, alongside Kazakhstan, which has committed itself to joining. It supports Israel's strategy for an effective multi-level network in the East and regional cooperation in the Turanian world, the post-Soviet space and Middle Eastern security systems.