Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed his planned trip to Azerbaijan to a later date due to security “developments,” the Prime Minister’s Office said on Saturday night.
The premier was scheduled to travel to the predominantly Shi’ite Muslim country this week, as Azerbaijan has expressed interest in further strengthening ties with Israel and the United States. Baku, which has long had close ties with Israel, is interested in joining the Abraham Accords, which saw Jerusalem establish peace with four Arab countries during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term.
“In light of developments in the Gaza and Syria arenas, and due to a packed political-security schedule, Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided to postpone his visit to Azerbaijan to a later date,” the Prime Minister’s Office’s statement read.
“The prime minister thanks President [Ilham] Aliyev for his invitation and appreciates the warm relations between the two countries,” it concluded.
Netanyahu was slated to meet with his Azerbaijani counterpart on May 8 and visit members of the Jewish community the next day. He was scheduled to spend Shabbat in Baku.
“Azerbaijan is a leading country in the Muslim world in all that concerns normalizing relations with Israel, even before the Abrahamic States,” George Deek, Israeli ambassador to Azerbaijan, told JNS on Tuesday. He added that Azerbaijan is interested in becoming “part of that forum of moderate countries that is in favor of prosperity and flourishing, and against Islamic extremism.
“Azerbaijan can lead the expansion of the Abrahamic States Forum to non-Arab Muslim countries, and this is something we fully support,” Deek said.