After Israel and Azerbaijan celebrated 29 years to the establishment of bilateral ties, an Azeri official told the Israel Hayom newspaper, "The time has come to open an Azerbaijan Embassy in Israel."
"The Azeri people and the Jewish people have a long history together," Farid Shafiyev, the chairman of Azerbaijan's Center of Analysis of International Relations, told the newspaper.
"Jews have lived in Azerbaijan for 2,500 years. The historic ties between the peoples are deep," he added, noting this shared history was the basis for bilateral ties.
"There are Israelis that are influenced by the Armenian lobby, who think the basis for Israel-Azerbaijan ties is oil and weapons," he said. "Factually speaking, they are wrong; the basis for the ties is historic. There's also no doubt the economic ties are significant."
"Historians attack the image of the Israelis and the Azerbaijanis. This is anti-Semitism and anti-Azerbaijanism. Nevertheless, that is also what unites us. We are united, and we need to upgrade our ties. The time has come to open an Azerbaijan Embassy in Israel," stated Shafiyev.
Azeri Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov praised the ties between the countries earlier this week.
"Azerbaijan and Israel enjoy strong bilateral relations and good friendship. Israel was one of the first countries that recognized the independence of Azerbaijan, and we highly appreciate it. Our cooperation is close and mutually beneficial, and it covers political, economic, military, and other fields," Bayramov said.
A report several months ago said Azeri President Ilham Aliyev is trying to mend relations between Israel and Turkey and had raised the issue in a call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)